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Overview
Remember those invisible ink pens that you used to write secret messages with? And then your friends could read them if they had that special blue light thing? And if you didn’t have one you were banished from the cool kids table because biros just didn’t cut it when it came to stealth in-class note-passing anymore? Well just like its fellow ‘90s icons, double denim and Robert Downey Jr, invisible ink is making a radical comeback. Except now it’s activated by water instead of an LED, and it’s being used on concrete instead of paper. It’s called Rainworks.
Rainworks creates street art that is only visible in wet weather. By using AlwaysDry, a powerful hydrophobic coating that acts as an invisible raincoat to whichever surface it is sprayed upon, and painting around stencilled prints, the company creates uplifting images that aim to brighten up event the gloomiest of rainy days. Fittingly, the company is based in Seattle, which is notoriously wet. Even more fittingly, the magician at the heart of the innovative operation is called Peregrine Church, which is probably the best name that anyone has ever been named. Church was inspired by hydrophobic products being used to waterproof clothing and flooring, and decided to apply the same technology to an aerosol paint which could the be used to paint the streets. Whilst he hasn't sought out any legal permission for his art, the law in Seattle states that if the art is temporary, then the streets are fair game as your canvas. But even if the Rainworks designs managed to remain more permanently, what kind of happiness hating human would say no to a friendly “Stay Dry out There” underfoot?
With messages like Proud to be Rainy, Raindrops Keep Falling on my Head, and Error 404: Sun not Found lining the footpath, how can Seattleites (Seattlians? Seattlers?) stay mad at the weather, despite the fact that their umbrella just blew inside out and they unthinkingly wore canvas shoes meaning their feet are now fully submerged in water and making a suspicious squelching noise every time they take a step? What’s more, games of “the ground is lava” and hopscotch line the streets so instead of watching raindrops roll down the windows, the kids can play outside despite the showers.
Known for having incessantly bad weather, a chewed gum wall, a street fashion portfolio largely made up of flannel, and the location of a sub-par rom-com where Tom Hanks plays an insomniac (okay, you got me, I've never seen Sleepless in Seattle), is it weird that we are now kind of jealous of those lucky Seattle-slickers who get to play the ground is lava on their morning walking commute through the rain?
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