Do you know what a bollard is? If you do not, you have definitely seen one on your way to school or work. Bollards are large thick posts, designed to protect pedestrians and buildings from being hit by vehicles.
While they were effective at protecting pedestrians, the design of these bollards was underwhelming, but one man saw creative potential.
Every morning, on my way to school (for the past 11 years) I have passed by these unassuming bollards on Kenyon Way, Little Hulton, and to little surprise, they weren’t noticed by the public. Around three months ago, I took sight of the first minion. I was slightly confused at first, but afterwards I became intrigued at how creative it was.
For weeks, I repeatedly saw more and more minions appearing. They even started having different variations such as Spider-Man, Dead-pool, and Darth Vader. By now, I was in awe of these spectacular minions, but there was still one question; who did it?
I tried for many weeks, researching and scanning news articles looking for anything that could give me clue of this mystery person. Until the 3rd of October, when the man revealed himself to be Martin Withers. Martin Withers is a Salford based street artist who saw the bollards and came up with a genius idea to turn these into minions.
Martin revealed his identity by painting his social media account on one of his minions, which led to multiple news reporters contacting him. This led to him being able to share the sort of what the minions meant to him and why he decided to paint them in the first place.
In response to these bollards, residents started donating money in order for him to begin painting more minions around the area. Martin has now collected a total of £300 and has made almost 20 minions, all with their own unique design. I admire Martin’s creativity and truly hope to see more of his work around Salford.
By Simra Naslin