A Critique of Our Intentions Worth Taking Seriously

Kyle Magee runs a site called Global Liberal Media Please, that basically chronicles his very serious protest against outdoor advertising and its role in the corporate takeover of what should be a global media democracy, but is instead privately funded entertainment in service of global capitalism. He gets arrested, and pleads his case as a serious public protest against a failing media system that is encouraging the devastation of our planet and the subjugation of our masses. He does this through the court system and finds himself in jail, locked up for expressing his very dire concerns about how our shared public environment is being misused. His incarceration largely for the temporary and very reversible damage to a few outdoor advertising structures owned by large multinational companies. It is kind of a travesty and to someone like me a constant reminder that at the heart of what I call an art project is a very serious issue whose resolution would have widespread benefits for everyone. 

Kyle wrote a criticism of the Brandalism project, of which I was a part, not as an art critique but as a political critique encouraging a dialogue. He can be rough around the edges if you have thin skin but every word he has written rings true to me. I hope his concerns are taken seriously as his actions have proved him to be a figure who stands up for what he does and believes. 

VIA: GLMP

it is encouraging that so many people (including artists) are becoming increasingly aware that the domination of public space by for-profit advertising is a serious problem, one that can and should be protested against.

brandalism isn’t the only organised bunch of naughty street artists who are willing to clean up for-profit ads in public space even though the stupid law says no — there’s also, to mention just a couple, the public ad campaign in new york and the empty project of madrid — and there is also quite a few street artists (many of whom involved in brandalism) going out on their own to replace for-profit ads with the real expressions of actual human beings who, presumably, do not wish to cause you any psychological/physical harm that happens to be profitable. More [HERE]