You've Walked Past Me So Many Times

You've Walked Past Me So Many Times

A guerrilla public artwork. 100 abandoned road cones, collected over weeks of late-night suburban surveys, arranged in a staggered grid in Te Komititanga Square around a custom "Come Get Your Cones" sign. Each cone carried a QR code linking to patronage.nz, where visitors could trace its origin, update its location, and get return directions via Google Maps.

The installation critiqued traffic management inefficiencies, government bureaucracy, and collective misuse, while offering a practical alternative: a real-time tracking platform for community-driven accountability.

Installed at 3 a.m. in time for Monday commuters, the work was expected to last until around 6 a.m. It remained fully intact until midday. When council workers intervened, they restacked the cones into a new formation that stayed in place for another nine hours, unintentionally extending the project and amplifying its critique.

The work drew 2,500 QR conversions, feature coverage in Stuff and The Breeze 93.4FM, 126,000 impressions including footfall, and widespread social media engagement. Entirely self-funded with Hireace sponsorship, the project doubled as an environmental cleanup, removing 100 cones from city streets at zero cost to ratepayers.

Featured in The Spinoff's 2025 road cone retrospective. A "Brownist rant in artsy clothing."