Bin Abduction

Five Black Bins from Cow Africa on Vimeo.

Over in Cape Town, Cow worked with four design shops to 'abduct' and transform five bins (trash cans) from random addresses in the Woodstock area of the city.

Designers were briefed to use the bin as a canvas and also to take into consideration the context of its surroundings as well. In addition to Cow, the agencies that got involved in the project were Room 13 (the people who designed our website), Am I Collective, The President and Kronk.

Once the designs were completed, bespoke vinyls were printed. Cow abducted the selected bins, applied the vinyls and returned them to their homes.

“We were interested in how homeowners decorate their bins by painting their street name and number on to prevent them from being stolen,” says Steyn Strauss from Cow. “This got us thinking about the space and how the bin works together with the house it's in front of, as well as the street and neighbourhood it’s in.”

In addition to the short film above detailing the activity, a website about the project is here.

(Pictured, Room 13's bin designs)