Library Street Collective is pleased to partner with Project Backboard with support from the City of Detroit on their latest basketball court with artist Jason REVOK. Project Backboard is a 501(c)(3) organization, founded in 2015, whose mission is to renovate public basketball courts and install large scale works of site-specific art on the surface in order to strengthen communities, improve park safety, encourage multi-generational play, and inspire people to think more critically and creatively about their environment. For the project, REVOK has painted the basketball court in the style of his signature ‘Tape Loop’ series. To date, REVOK, whose roots are in graffiti, has produced countless large-scale public projects, mainly murals in which he paints atop the facades of buildings as an extension of his established studio practice. REVOK’s ‘Tape Loops’ are driven by the work of avant-garde composer William Basinski, who in the 1980s set out to digitize easy listening tapes, but instead watched his cassettes break apart as they moved through the recording spool. He continued documenting despite the interference, and created an unprecedented series called “The Disintegration Loops.” REVOK creates a similar effect through paint—imperfect concentric lines interrupted by diagonal composition—built up through the methodological use of a paint roller coiled in tape.

This court was generously funded by Five-Star Basketball, an organization offering high intensity camps, clinics, and development leagues for boys and girls. Says the organization on their desire to get involved in the project: “Five-Star Basketball's history was built on outdoor courts. Those same courts—and the game we all love—have been a unifier. They've birthed many more friendships than Hall of Famers. More memories than milestones. And that's why we give back. That's why we've partnered with Project Backboard.”

The court is now open to the public and is located at the Conant-Minnesota Park in Detroit, MI.