2007-04-11

If the shoefitis, wear it


For weeks I saw them dangling there, high above the intersection. But I had no idea why anyone would bother to toss not one but two pairs of sneakers onto the power lines that criss-cross Lisgar and O'Connor streets.

Then I stumbled across the term for this footwear phenomenon: shoefiti. It seems the dangling running shoes have been spotted everywhere from Australia to Poland.

What's it all about? Well, theories abound, from reassuringly innocent to downright disconcerting. Could be kids messing around. A sign that crack cocaine is sold in the neighbourhood. A gangland ritual to celebrate a murder. An act of dissent against government. Or, the most obvious explanation, a vivid illustration of New Wave polysemy.

And then there's this outlandish notion from Eric Nygren, quoted in the Indiana Daily Student. "It's pretty simple," Nygren said. "It's a stupid college thing people do. Somebody probably got drunk and thought it would be fun."

3 comments:

coyote said...

New Wave polysemy? Love it. Back when I was a pup on the prairies, we useta build giant stone circles. Figured it'd eventually give archaeologists something to endlessly puzzle at and bullshit about. Seems we were right...

Aggie said...

If I were the kid's mom witnessing those shoes dangling over the wires, I don't think it would be a very polysemantic/semiotic (?) situation.

coyote said...

Comment on the new colour scheme? My eyes are bleedin'... and dogs don't see colour.