Application Spotlight: The Water Tower Tank Project

HP and Duggal help to transform New York City’s skyline through art

Denise M. Gustavson

February 1, 2015

This one can be found at 393 West Broadway, New York, NY. The artist is Lorenzo Petrantoni born in Genoa. His passion for graphic design together with a passion for the period of the late 1800s led him to create illustrations of that period.

In November 2013 HP was approached about a major “environmental art exhibition” underway and planned for debut in New York City. Beginning July 2014, The Water Tank Project is encouraging New Yorkers to look up and be inspired by New York City’s iconic water tanks wrapped in artwork by some of the world’s best-known artists and influencers, to draw attention to the global water crisis.

The Water Tank Project will celebrate our most precious resource of all with art by creative and artistic luminaries – among them artists Ed Ruscha, John Baldessari, Jeff Koons, Andy Goldsworthy, Marilyn Minter, Carrie Mae Weems, and Lawrence Weiner - who have pledged to make a difference when it comes to water.

The Water Tank Project is the first public art exhibition to use the New York City water tanks as a canvas that will be seen by millions. For the duration of the Project, the art above will be complemented by various actions and activities on the ground, including events, public tours of the tanks, unique fundraising programs and various social media and promotional initiatives, to engage the public. The Water Tank Project is also launching a mobile platform, accessible to any smartphone that will allow the public to navigate and follow the Project, view the artwork, and learn how to get involved and make a difference.

Starting July 2014, everyone in New York will be looking up at hundreds of water tower tanks covered in art produced on our large-format HP Latex printers and they will be learning a valuable environmental lesson.

While in Ethiopia shooting a documentary, filmmaker Mary Jordan fell ill in a remote village. The village women took her in and nursed her back to health. They asked Mary for one thing: to tell the world about their biggest issue, the lack of available drinkable/potable water.

Upon her return to New York City, she saw the iconic water tower tanks that dot the landscape of the five boroughs and hatched the idea to use them to create an awareness program. Word above the street was born as a non-profit organization that has transformed these water towers into an awareness program by draping them with art. And The Water Tower Project was born.

More than 150 rooftop water tanks throughout the five boroughs of New York were wrapped in artwork by acclaimed artists and design talent across various design disciplines. (art, fashion, interiors, architecture, photography, etc.).

Duggal Visual Solutions, a shop serving the Metro New York area for over 45 years, won the project to produce all the wraps. Duggal produced an estimated 40,000 sqft of output using its HP latex printer and latex ink.

To learn more about the project, view the video here: MyPRINTResource.com/12033730.

HP_Water Tank Art5 — This one can be found at 23 East 15th Street, New York, NY. Jordi Forniés, the artist, is a Catalan artist based in Dublin (Ireland). A chemist by training, Jordi knows a thing or two about pigments and paint.

HP_Water Tank Art6 — This one can be found at 282 11th Avenue & 29th street, New York, NY. The artist is Nigerian-born Odili Donald Odita an abstract painter whose work explores color both in the figurative art historical context and in the sociopolitical sense.

HP_Water Tank Art7 — This one can be found at 530 West 25th Street, New York, NY. The artist is Dutch designer and illustrator Sigrid Calon applies her curious and evocative touch to everything from publications to massive, site-specific installations.

HP_Water Tank Art8 — This one can be found at 393 West Broadway, New York, NY. The artist is Lorenzo Petrantoni born in Genoa. His passion for graphic design together with a passion for the period of the late 1800s led him to create illustrations of that period.

HP_Water Tank Art10 — This one can be found at 530 West 25th Street, New York, NY. The artist is Dutch designer and illustrator Sigrid Calon applies her curious and evocative touch to everything from publications to massive, site-specific installations.

HP_Water Tank Art12 — This one can be found at 23 East 15th Street, New York, NY. Jordi Forniés, the artist, is a Catalan artist based in Dublin (Ireland). A chemist by training, Jordi knows a thing or two about pigments and paint.