Rainworks are pieces of street art that only appear when wet, featuring messages, images and interactive games that work great for a city infamous for its frequent precipitation. The idea, in part, is to encourage people to enjoy the rain, and reward those who go out and play in the gathering drizzle.
Peregrine Church creates these works which, while temporary, can last for months before degrading – the water-repellent sprays used are eco-friendly and will biodegrade when the designs eventually dissolve.
Neverwet and its analogs are not exactly new materials, nor is the idea of applying it to stenciled graffiti art novel, but the variety of Church’s work is compelling, as is his targeting of its results to different neighborhoods in an oft-soaked city, from the U District to Ballard and beyond. Some of the vignettes are simply playful images, or geek and gaming references, while others carry water usage-related messages.
Indeed, this seems the perfect set of urban settings – while Seattle has frequent rains it rarely has downpours, meaning the ground is often moist but the weather rarely so bad that it is difficult to go out and experience it.
