guest post by Burstein!
photo by Audrey Penven
Some brilliant pranksters installed beautiful swings on BART last night. What apparently happened, according to witnesses, was a team of six or so people hopped on to a north-bound train from 24th Street station in San Francisco around 8:30 p.m. last night, installed three matching red swings, and then exited at 16th Street leaving their swings behind for public consumption.
Luckily, photos were taken to record the event.
photo by Neiltron
I personally love this prank because of the joy that it inspires in the innocent by-standers. Look at the photos. Even the dudes that are not swinging are smiling (except for one woman – that is just how some people roll, I guess). I declare this to be an epic victory for joy and whimsy over the mundane!
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{ 40 comments… read them below or add one }
Those crazy kids!
That girl in the second picture is kinda cute.
LOVE the redesign
this has successfully made friends of mine in LA jealous that they didn’t live here. ;)
I’ll show you how I roll, role stylie….
Note to self: Take BART more.
Wonder if that is her O Face.
Damnit! I need to take BART more often!
Like the creativity……but not nearly as daring as fat burner running on the outside n through the whole city……..but i agree, only in san fran.
Wow, the girl in the second picture has *really* long legs
I think we’ve found waldo
ditto Andy’s: note to self: Ride Bart more
BART wasn’t amused. Those bars aren’t designed to hold that much weight. So, on top of the expense during a budget ccrisis of potential repair to equipment, you’ve got the VERY OBVIOUS PROBLEM of people hurting themselves and other passengers, as well as obstruction of the aisleways.
Pranks are cool and all but this is IRRESPONSIBLE AND DANGEROUS. Hopefully we can avoid repeating this. Promoting this stunt as anything but a bad idea is also irresponsible. I encourage you to condemn the activity at the top of this post.
Sincerely,
-daniel
stick-in-the-mud
Daniel, you wet blanket you.
Dangerous huh? Dangerous like driving, or even living in Oakland with it’s current crime rate? If you are afraid of danger I can understand why you left Chicago, but quite frankly your a fool for thinking the bay area is any safer. The people of the bay like to enjoy life, and this is a good example of that. If that kind of life is not for you, I invite you to leave.
Daniel, stop being lame.
DAAAAAAD! Everybody was having a great time until you showed up with your “IRRESPONSIBLE” this and “DANGEROUS” that. It’s So EMBARRASSING!!! Why do ya always have to go and ruin the fun!? Always worried about somebody getting hurt. Well, did anybody get hurt? If nobody got hurt then what’s the big deal? It’s over now. BART took the swings down didn’t they?Do you like work for the transit authority? You don’t? Well then like mind your own business!
I peed in a cat once.
and hush up, Daniel.
Daniel, have you tried being IRRESPONSIBLE and DANGEROUS recently? Aside from the fact that swings on a transit is hardly adrenaline-rush material, things like that are what we have to keep our hearts alive, and not crushed by rules, regulations, and fear.
Go take risks, heck, try making eye contact with someone on the bus or down the street.
Don’t be so… stifled.
first of all the dude smiling in the pic is part of the crew, he has a pick riding it if you click on the link. only one out of 2 people are smiling, i would probably be one of people that would not smile because they seem like huge annoying geeks to me.
No trouble being irresponsible and dangerous on your own time. If you burden the transit system by risking damage and injuries on a moving vehicle you are doing it wrong.
Twins riding the subway pantless as mirror images of each other is harmless fun pranksterism. This stunt is no different from celebrating teenage kids who like to ride their skateboards into oncoming traffic because its “cool” . . . we shouldn’t encourage either group to do stupid, dangerous things that risk messing things up for the public.
Sincerely,
-daniel
this is great, i love this new wave of avant garde vandalism–creative and fun. and for the guy who seems to be so worried about public safety–lighten the f* up. to say that this is somehow exacerbating the budget crisis is ridiculous.
is this what young people think is cool now days? oooo look some really “cool people” put magical fairy swings on a train, oh wow “avant garde” art is so cool, i wish i had come up with the idea. “oh we’re just having some fun” oooooohhhhhh excuse me for interupting your “life should be all fun and no surprises” parade, but there’s real s**t going on out there and all you idiots are drinking your morning lattes or whatever the hell is “hip” at the moment, looking at some “pranksters” (don’t give a word that means people have at least one ball in their pants a bad name) who put F*****G CHILDREN’S TOYS ON A TRAIN. pop art pop art where are you mr. warhol, look at the mess you made. now people can ride on a pretty little swing in the train right next to the politicians on their way to fix up the damn country…. but look at those men in their suits boo hoo losers, they take life way tooooooo seriously man, they’re the BAD GUYS, BAD GUYS IN SUITS because they won’t laugh at our stupidity, and they actually do “grown up stuff”, hahahah losers….. now where’s my avant garde coffee cup and my hipsters diary, I DON’T HAVE A F*****N CLUE WHAT THIS ALL MEANS
nice try at trolling, but you come on a little strong. maybe you should look up the definition of avant garde–you seem to be very confused. the swing isn’t taking a jab at men in suits or some kind of political agenda. its making fun of the fact that public transit is a place where people crowd together but rarely talk to one another or even crack a smile. you know when you get in an elevator with 4-5 typically friendly people and yet its dead silent for the whole ride? that’s what the artist is poking fun at.
Actually the guys in suits work for the IRS in the business district. I say we insult them after all.
Jeez I never heard so much boring drivel in my life from one person. I bet you have a fun life, sat in front of your TV, because it’s just sooooooo dangerous outside.
You’re a loser.
I love this kind of stuff. Utterly fantastic and kudos to the guys who did it. Lovely to have some form of expression and mindless immaturity amongst countless repressed and lifeless.
And aside from the obvious danger of some fat fuck sitting on the swing, I can’t see anything wrong with this. At the very worst, it’s a form of creative vandalism, like the mind-bending graffiti that people like Banksy do (although this is nowhere near as skilled). In conclusion; hush up, Daniel.
yes chris, i’m petrified of swings, avant garde hipster wannabe…. let me refill your latte
Wow… So much hostility. I wouldn’t call it reckless, dangerous, hip, or avant garde. People, it is a SWING on a TRAIN. Take it for what it is please
okay, while it is fun and a neat idea, Daniel has a point.
1) it’s a potential hazard to those on the swing as well as other BART riders. sorry, but hanging from things not designed to support your weight, especially on a moving vehicle and around other people, is dangerous.
2) it could damage BART equipment, requiring the train to be pulled from service and repaired. this costs public money to pay for the parts, cost of pulling the train from service and replacing it, plus labor for maintenance.
i also feel compelled to note that Banksy’s artwork doesn’t generally keep people in wheelchairs or on crutches from navigating public spaces. i saw a post about swings on bus shelters once. again, like here, a neat idea, but a bad one. in this case, any ADA-sensitive folks couldn’t get through the shelter door to get out of the rain because someone put a swing in it.
i’m not saying this isn’t novel, or a fun idea, but it’s certainly not a responsible one. people could get hurt. people could be inconvenienced. it could cost a lot more public money than most anyone realizes. it would be fun, but it’s a bad idea.
I wasn’t going to say this, but I’m glad to see someone else mention it. I’m in a wheelchair, and while I love a good prank as much as the next guy, the swing would block my already limited access in a public space.
I’d worry about getting hit by it as/if people held it out of my way.
Not trying to be a whiner, but it is an inconsiderate prank.
Sorry about the ada person. I’m one now and it would have crossed my mind to move the swing. Hey you up there leave Homer’s writing to the show writers.You’re right Psynyde– it’s a swing on a train.If someone fell –well the responsibility is theirs. And you piss ant, go check the bridges around the country becase they are dangerous and don’t go to the beach ’cause there might be a Tsunami. After many years in public transit all I can say is I dig it. Oh yeah what’s the fetish with twins with no pants on? huh?
Smile! As I see it, those bars that are on the ceiling have people hanging from them swinging quite often. Take a late night BART ride home from the city and you’ll see plenty of buzzed danglers. So, I doubt there be any risk of damaging the equiptment. The BART train can handle it.
Very interesting.
So much name calling. So much bashing, so many different opinions. I actually happen to agree with all of it!
I would chalk this one up as the epitome of WHY? people ride/ roll through life much less any public transit system without making eye contact or ’socializing’ with the people around them. Your either totally fucking cool for doing something FUN or your a total fucking idiot for doing something stupid/ mindless/ FUN. Everyone is so frigging opinionated, yet no one really seems to have much respect for how the next guy feels. I equate this to the assholes who think it’s soo cool to force themselves through the train doors as they are closing. NO REGARD WHATSO EVER TO THE PEOPLE AROUND THEM. I personally have had to off board a train during peak travel more than twice because they had to take the train out of service as a result of someone elses disregard for others. Judge this.
This situation is hardly worth comparing to my next scenario, however on the subject of ‘disregard for others…. certainly there are many people out there that think weaving in an out of traffic at high speeds, regardless of how bloody thick it is pretty god damned cool as well, I’m guessing these are the same people that never see the cars through out the bay area that are turned upside down in the middle of the freeway, interfering with everyones else travel plans. I see it all the time. One thing I never do see is these assholes ever actually getting pulled over for all the fun there having.
blah blah blah…… ??????????? Does anyone even really know what time it is?
I love the swings on BART. I would have loved to have these joyful people enter my train and put the swings up in front of me. It would have been lovely, joyful, to see it.
I point out that they did it at 8:30 p.m., when the trains are not at all crowded. doing this during rush hour might be inappropriate but it is harmless at 8:30 p.m.
What are we coming to when our shared spaces can’t be thoughtfully, joyfully, platfully shared? Lighten up.
I ride BART all the time and I see people doing chin-lifts (or whatever they are called) on the ceiling railings all the time. Those steel bars can, obviously, hold many hundreds of pounds. One person on a swing, with the weight distributed on TWO bars, won’t break anything.
It doesn’t matter but I am a senior. I hope to see happy happenings on many BART rides. Keep up the good work.
Lighten up a little. This was just some hamless fun. I think it’s great that some people know how to live it up!
I think it’s a unique and fun twist on the mundane. It makes the boring commute on public transportation just a little better. And (I think) someone up there said that they would be that unsmiling person…
Well, I don’t know about you, but I’d prefer swinging people to weirdos and creepers any day!
As far as we know, no one got hurt, which makes it all the better.
These pictures and those pranksters make me smile. :)
sfzero.com has your explanation.
i don’t want to throw out a lot of examples because i might get reemed for them not being exactly the same as swings on bart, but the mission is pretty chock full of cute whimsical pranks where people get hurt (badly, sometimes) and some poor shlub has to pay to clean up after our cuteness. i’m not hating on bart swings but those who do aren’t just total throwaway assholes.
How come the bars aren’t designed to take that much weight? They’re there as a safety feature for people to grab onto, and if they fall, thus needing to grab onto a bar, their full weight would hang off one bar. You’re telling us, Daniel, that 2 bars aren’t strong enough between them to take one person’s weight? What if it was rush hour, and the carriage was full of commuters holding onto the bar, and the train had to make an emergency stop? It strikes me that if the bars can’t each hold half a person’s weight, then they are woefully under-specced for the job for which they are intended, and give commuters a false sense of security.