JC Decaux Ad Takeover Mockumentary

An odd advertising takeover mockumentary about accessing JC Decaux outdoor advertising structures.

New Work For a Show in Australia

Will post more once I know more about the show but these are the three pieces going out for the show. Enjoy until then. Ink, spray, and pencil on used books.

Ox at the Black River Festival 2011

OX continues to do what he does best, remove commercial advertising and improve our shared public spaces. More [HERE]

Graved Drawings on L Train Platform Advertising

Saw this image on the platform of the L train in Brooklyn. Nice to see someone taking the time to edit ad content in such a brazen way.

Upper Space Artists Hijack Bus Shelters to Address UK Homelessness

"In 2011 the British government brought in devastating cuts to public spending in response to the financial deficit caused by a deeply flawed and unsustainable financial system. As is always the case, the marginalised and poorest citizens of the nation now feel the full force of these changes. Upper Space worked alongside young homeless people in the city of Manchester – the UK’s fourth most deprived city, in the creation of street art interventions that critically engaged with the governments changes to the housing benefit system and Localism Bill whilst creatively giving the finger to those responsible.

The project saw Upper Space artists working alongside young homeless people in the city on a series of urban interventions and installations across the city. The bus shelter interventions turned ordinary public spaces into temporary homes as Upper Space highlights the effects of the financial crisis on citizens with particular focus on the banks that have caused the crisis. These same banks are now repossessing up to 900 family homes each week as people struggle to repay mortgages that were irresponsibly sold."

More at www.upperspace.org

Broke housing authority mulling putting alcohol, fast food ads on buildings

The Daily News is reporting that the NY Housing Authority is debating selling advertising rights at some 338 developments across the 5 boroughs. Clearly this is a terrible idea which will result in booze and fast food ads targeted at low income families which will help perpetuate bad habits for families which already face immense hurdles. Advertisers are notorious for drowning low income neighborhoods in advertising for products which perpetuate violence and an unhealthy lifestyle. This is nothing new. What I did find interesting are a few quotes from people interviewed for the article who speak about the ads on housing developments specifically but whose comments resonate on outdoor advertising in general.

"The plan drew outrage from lawmakers and experts who worry advertisers would prey on the projects' low-income residents."

"'It sounds like a grotesque idea,' said Columbia University's Ronald Bayer. 'You shouldn't shove advertisements in people's faces.'

While I think advertising on housing authority property is a terrible idea, does advertising on or city streets not do the exact same thing to the whole of the city? prey on the residents of our city?

VIA NY Daily NewsThe cash-strapped city Housing Authority is considering raking in bucks by selling ads on its buildings - and it could even mean billboards for booze and fast food.

The Housing Authority quietly circulated notice last week that it's looking to hire a consultant to advise them on selling advertising space in developments that more than 400,000 people call home. Full Article [HERE]

Random NPA Subvertisement

I was walking around tonight for no apparent reason looking at ads. Trying to find a few things off the beaten path when I fell into these pieces. I'm not sure if these are sanctioned by Contest Promotions or if these are random illegal pieces, but I imagine the later. Either way they reminded me of Ramon for the first NYSAT project, the site representing it I have realized is down. I will repair it in the next few days and apologize for the inconvenience.

ART IS NOT A CRIME…END THE MURAL MORATORIUM

Saber, renowned Los Angeles graffiti artist, has taken to the skies in an attempt to remind the city of Los Angeles that the mural moratorium is ruining Los Angeles' reputation as a mural city ripe with the life and culture of its residents. He posted this explanation of his actions on his blog and I thought it interesting to note that part of the reason the moratorium is being so strictly enforced against public art mural production is that the outdoor advertising industry found itself under fire not too long ago. Without permits for many outdoor commercial signs it seemed that part of the industries method of combatting that enforcement was to drag public art into the discussion. Instead of engaging the conversation of what is and isn't protected under free speech, the city of LA bowed to the industries demands in cowardly subservience to those that sponsor campaigns and fight tooth and nail for the right to take advantage of an unsuspecting public.

Weaving Parisian Ads Out of Existence

I recently returned from Europe where I was working on some secret projects and looking at new cities for Street Ad Takeover projects. I spent a little over a week in Paris and had a free day to create 11 colored weaves takeovers. Using these vertical poster sites readily available on nearly every street in Paris, I was able to integrate the work into the environment pretty seemlessly. I like how the photos show everyday Parisians oblivious to the alteration and yet surrounded by less commercial imagery than before.

Augmented Reality and the Reappropriation of Public Space

The AR AD Takeover project came out of a discussion between myself and BC Bierman. A paper has finalized that discussion and created an academic framework around which the project can be understood. Please take a look at it if the abstract below is of interest.

Abstract:

This project employs augmented reality (AR) technology to layer urban centers with artistic content in the virtual world. Specifically, the Takeover is an AR deployment that uses street level phone booth ads and billboards to trigger a citywide curated art installation that displays on Android and Iphone mobile devices. This project showcases street artists whose work has historically addressed commercial advertising in public space. This project examines how civic authorities allow certain private parties to profit while preventing or discouraging other forms of public media production. It is with a certain sense of ironic playfulness that we utilize technology to create a kind of hypAR-reality, which implodes the distinction between the physical and the digital, to make evident the consumptive hyper-reality created by commercial advertising. We hope to problematize the top-down hierarchy of the traditional advertising model and pave the way for a more democratic, relativistic model that opens up a meaningful discourse between commercial advertisers and the public. This project is premised on the idea that capitalism - simply by pursuing its natural operational processes - possesses inherent problems of defining the ideal citizen and creating incentives for the exchange of valuable ideas. Conceived in response to this flaw in the system, we designed the AR | AD Takeover as preliminary step in the evolution of the messaging in public space from being predominantly commercial to a more democratic, open environment.

Full Paper [HERE]

Tactics of Engagement in Art - Matthew Tedford

Matthew Tedford spoke with me about public space and artistic activism for his masters thesis a while back. his insight into the projects goals and expectations is pretty spot on and if ever anyone wanted an academic framing of the NYSAT project, this video is a wonderful aid.

without spoiling the content of the video I will pull out this one quote which is an argument against a typical response to the SAT projects that bemoans the "quality" of the artworks produced under police surveillance and impending arrest.

"politics springs forth from a pluralism of members within a given community. if a space of freedom and action exists debate and contestation between these members produces politics. such a precept implies that the context and the display of an artwork is as important to its political efficacy as its formal characteristics."

View more by Matthew Tedford on his Tumblr [HERE]