Matt Tenenbaum, an intern at the Nickelodeon Theatre and USC alumnus, was getting increasingly frustrated with Columbia’s public transportation.
So, he decided to do something. That’s how Vistovka Transporte was born.
Vistovka Transporte is an arts installation found not just in a single location but spread throughout Indie Grits. It features advertisements not for Columbia’s current public transportation system, but for potential public transportation systems that could improve Columbia.
Rather than being created by Tenenbaum himself, most of the advertisements come from images created and submitted by Columbia residents themselves. Tenenbaum’s contribution was a satire on the South Carolina Department of Transportation logo, with the T changed to an F for “Future.”
“Specifically for me, [the problem] was [for cyclists],” Tenenbaum said. “It really drove me nuts. On one occasion I was actually hit (by a car) twice in the same day.”
In terms of walking and biking, Columbia leaves a lot to be desired, Tenenbaum said.
“Personally for me, I just like to see some sort of consensus on what comes next,” Tenenbaum said. “I see a lot of different ideas, specifically for biking in Columbia, about like a light rail system, bus lanes, and it's really interesting, but I'd like to just see what's going to be that first step. I'd love to see a rail system take off. With Columbia growing the way it has been, it'd be amazing to have the infrastructure set up because 15 or 20 years down the line it will become really relevant.”
Whether or not Vistovka Transporte serves as the impetus of a public transportation initiative in Columbia, it demonstrates how a festival like Indie Grits can be about more than just art, and about how art can be about more than entertainment.
Vistovka Transporte will be going on throughout the Indie Grits Festival. Submissions can be sent in at vistovkatransporte.com.
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