Baggage, The Suitcase show

A few weeks ago, Jeff Stark invited me to take part in Baggage, The Suitcase show, which was part of a larger one night art/theatre performance at the ICA in Boston called The Experiment. The general premise was put an art object into peoples hands and let them have an experience with that object which defies the normal art object/viewer relationship. Guests were greeted by a bellhop who handed out suitcases which they could take to private viewing rooms. Once alone you were given as much time as you wanted with the artwork, returning it at your own discretion. Jeff's work rides a fine line between theatre, art, and interactive performance and I was honored to be a part of his larger vision. Below is a view inside my suitcase which held all of the tools you need to procure your own NYC phonebooth along with a video for inspiration.

Times Square Billboard Failure

VIA Animal NY - photo credit Nate Cepis

New Project Hopes to Turn Building Facades Into Virtual Murals You Can See on Your iPhone

As you may or may not know me and my friend at The Heavy Projects have been working on getting an Augmented Reality mural project off the ground. There are some exciting developments I cant wait to let everyone know about but until then here is a nice article from The LA Weekly. Enjoy!

VIA: The LA Weekly

Los Angeles isn't known as a city with great public spaces. It's a city that traditionally has been beholden to private interests, back-room development deals and, of course, the car. Not coincidentally, it's also a city that has been hostile to street art, until it recently began conflating murals with commercial messages and battling multiple billboard lawsuits. As the city slowly begins to course-correct its past mistakes, a new art initiative addresses the intersection of private space and public art -- entirely virtually.More [HERE]

Your Ad Here, on a Fire Truck? Broke Cities Sell Naming Rights

Selling advertising or naming rights in schools, on city infrastructure and other municipally owned property to make up for huge budget deficits is not a new thing. We have spoken about it before on this site and the numbers quoted in the NY times article for which this post is put up, speak to the pathetic revenue stream that can be found through these types of deals. $4 million over 20 years to rename a a massive transfer hub subway station? Thats 200k a year without inflation factored in. With a total yearly operating budget well over hundreds of millions of dollars, this amounts to a getting a few cents off on your meal at Per Se. If these deals were about budget balancing, our officials would do a much better job of bargaining for a fair deal when they sell off our valuable assets to what seems like the lowest bidder. It is nothing but insulting to be told that the wholesale price tags attached to our urban infrastructure are settled with the public interest in mind.

"In Brooklyn, new signs went up last month at the Atlantic Avenue subway stop bearing a sponsored addition to its name: Barclays Center, for which the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is being paid $4 million over 20 years. Cleveland recently named its new Bus Rapid Transit system the HealthLine after it received $6.25 million over 25 years from the Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals."

VIA The New York Times

A KFC Fire Hydrant in Brazil

BALTIMORE — Should this city’s red fire trucks be transformed into rolling billboards?

After Baltimore officials made the wrenching decision to close three fire companies later this summer, the City Council initially sought to avert the cuts with a new money-raising strategy: it passed a resolution this month urging the administration to explore selling ads on the city’s fire trucks. More [HERE]

Dos Jotas in Amsterdam

Dos Jotas just sent me over their recent ad takeover in Amsterdam. These small urban panels adorn many European cities and are an easy target to get your message out on the streets. The simple text works well for me, an obvious detournement and interesting thought to mull over. More [HERE]

Lawsuit Seeks Disclosure of L.A. Billboard Data

Via: Ban Billboard Blight

A lawsuit has been filed in L.A. County Superior Court seeking to force disclosure of the location, legal status, and ownership of every billboard in the city of L.A. The suit contends that the city’s refusal to make public this information gathered by a citywide billboard inventory and inspection program is a clear violation of California’s Public Records Act. More [Here]

63 Duffield Billboard Simulation

I am consistently sent these promos for new billboard locations. I thought this one, offered through Rapid Realty (Not an OAC) particularly obnoxious and therefore worth posting. 

Evol Collaborates with Ludo in the Gallery

2012 London Olympics Pioneers Brand Exclusion Zones

The name of this post says it all. Exclusion zones are a natural evolution for brands attempting to overwhelm public consciousness in public space. In NY we have station domination which allows you to brand an entire subway station, whole cars are for sale, and it seems it will only take a large enough event for someone to purchase the whole damn transit system. What does the world look like when a single company can drown out all other voices, including its competition?

Full Article from Kosmograd Newsfeed [HERE]

Epos257's Urban (Shoot) Paintings

Epos257 is responsible for my favorite non advertising takeover public intervention, entitled 50 Square Meters of the Public Space. What I didnt know is that he has been working on a project called Urban (Shoot) paintings that target previously whitewashed billboards with what appears to be a homemade paint ball canon. Take a look for yourself [HERE]

Try Not to Run a Restaurant Like This

The Diner, on the corner of 9th avenue and 14th street is an unappealing form of generic that only tourists are duped by. Which is why it sits so suitably at this corner, often an impasse of photography and map reading. I know because I pass it twice daily on my commute. Other than the sidewalk inconvenience I could really care less and do business elsewhere. That was until I noticed the wraparound barrier that once only impeded traffic, now screamed for a television show I preferred not to know about. Obviously no respectable restaurant would ever whore themselves out like this. The combined lack of neighborhood clientele and tourist mecca that is Chelsea, made this an ideal location for advertising to swoop in and grab real estate. It is an ominous sign of the changes Chelsea will undergo as it continues to become a playground for the wealthy.

Billboard Advertising in the City of Blade Runner

VIA: Smithsonian Magazine

New York has the Statue of Liberty, St. Louis has the Gateway Arch and Los Angeles has the Hollywood sign.

It seems rather fitting that the landmark most emblematic of Los Angeles — a city built on glitz and showmanship — is an advertisement.

If you’re at all familiar with the history of the Hollywood sign, you’ll likely remember that it started as an ad for a new housing development in 1923 called Hollywoodland. Using 4,000 light bulbs, the sign was illuminated at night and flashed in three succeeding segments: first “holly,” then “wood,” and then “land.” The sign would then light up in its entirety, all 4,000 light bulbs piercing through the dark of night to the city below.  More [HERE]