You might have seen the same video on Facebook. It’s about Raubdrukerin, an art collective in Berlin Germany that uses urban infrastructure to screen print.
Artists take to the streets with screen printing ink and make t-shirt's, prints, and bags using the city: tree grates, manhole covers and plaques.
Shawn O’Hara saw this same video but decided to actually try it out in Rochester, meeting different reactions from people while he was crouched down on the street.
"A few strange looks, but mostly everyone is curious. Or they're like oh I saw that video that’s so cool!"
The ink is non toxic and O’Hara says he makes sure to clean up a locations afterwards.
He said it’s an easy way to represent the city, with the pieces that make it function. He hopes other people give it a shot.
"I saw it and thought it was a great idea and I want to teach other people how to do this. I love art, I love Rochester and I thought this was a great way to combine the two."
The idea is to paint a surface with ink and press fabric or paper on top of it, transferring the image.