Steve Lambert
Office workers ride zip lines down the streets of San Francisco, where a roller coaster has been installed as a new form of public transport: Welcome to the artistic world of Steve Lambert, who thoroughly reimagined the City by the Bay in a recent project with Packard Jennings.
A born-and-raised West Coaster now living in New York City, Lambert thrives on humorous provocation. His projects often take the form of media pranks, anonymous signs, and what he calls “anti-advertising.” Art, Lambert says, “is a bridge that connects uncommon, idealistic, or even radical ideas with everyday life.”
What’s your ideal working environment?
It’s what I have now: a bustling, collaborative environment where I can develop ideas with amazing people—with little places I can occasionally escape to where no one can bother me.
Is there someone outside your field who inspires you?
Is there anyone in my field that inspires me? The art world is so insular to begin with. I find the most inspiration outside—looking to sociology, hackers, creative activism, urban planning, etc.
What’s your dream commission?
To repurpose every weapons lab and military base in the United States. I’d have so much money and land, I could do anything.
Was there a specific object that changed how you think about art or design?
Cassettes of Black Flag, the Dead Kennedys, and the Ramones. One doesn’t have to labor, conform, and achieve technical perfection in order to communicate—and you can do it yourself.
What three buzzwords do you never want to hear applied to your own work?
“Activist,” “interactive,” and “community-based.”
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