Bushfire Brandalism - 41 AUS Artists take to the streets in 3 AUS Cities

#BushfireBrandalism from Partier Bresson on Vimeo.
As a collective group of Australian artists, we have been driven to reclaim public advertising space with posters speaking to the Australian government’s inaction on climate change and the devastating bushfires. We do not accept that this situation is ‘business as usual’.

We are making these issues visible in our public spaces and in our media; areas monopolized by entities maintaining conservative climate denial agendas. If the newspapers won’t print the story, we will! #Bushfirebrandalism [More HERE]

Protests as Sydney Opera House turned into billboard to advertise horse racing

VIA: Dezeen

The Jørn Utzon-designed Sydney Opera House has been lit up with graphics to advertising a horse race, prompting protests from designers and locals.

More [HERE]

Stolen bus shelter portrait of protester submitted in Archibald Prize

VIA: The Age

On a warm evening last November, Melbourne street artist CDH broke into a Moorabbin bus shelter and started furiously spraying an image on to a Streets ice-cream advertisement. Soon after he stole away into the night with the defaced billboard, after convincing a pair of police officers who challenged him that he had “permission”.

More [HERE]

Anti-Australia Day posters, graffiti plastered around Melbourne's CBD Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/antiaustralia-day-posters-graffiti-plastered-around-melbournes-cbd-20160126-gmdzw8.html#ixzz46s2Asw6d Follow us: @theage on Twitter | theageAustralia on Facebook

Turns out Melbourne has thier own little movement as well. Is anyone besides me keeping track of the incredible boon in anti-ad movements or groups focused around using public commercial media space for the collective good? It's astounding. makes you think there might be a legislative agenda on the horizon.

VIA: The Age Victoria

Anti-Australia Day posters and graffiti have been plastered across Melbourne's CBD as hundreds of people rally outside Parliament House over Aboriginal rights.
The large posters featuring the Aboriginal flag, which read "Sovereignty Never Ceded" and include the slogans #InvasionDay2016 and #NoPrideInGenocide, have been placed over existing advertisements at tram stops and train stations in the CBD. Read more: [HERE] Follow us: @theage on Twitter | theageAustralia on Facebook

More [HERE]

GLMP Video Explanation

I have posted about Kyle Magee in the past so some readers may be familiar with the activist's work in Australia. This new video, along with the post the accompanies it, explains why Kyle does what he does. Kyle is an interesting character in the anti advertising in public space debate. I know from speaking with him that he regards a lot of what myself and other artist call "ad takeover" work as superficial play time activities. And honestly, in light of his approach, it's hard not to agree with him. Kyle has served plenty of jail time and continues to attack the issue from a purely protest standpoint, no obscuring the issue with pretty pictures, Kyle is about results. While I am still unsure of what the right tactics are to raise public awareness about the role for profit advertising plays in our public space, and media at large, I do look to Kyle for inspiration. He is dedicated to changing things in any way he can, and I respect that. 

"i focus my discontent with the mass injustice and ecological destruction of our global systems on for-profit advertising because i believe for-profit advertising to be the most vulnerable component of the for-profit/capitalist/corporate domination of our global politics and economics — i believe it is this for-profit dominance that creates and maintains the core of our global problems, restricting our politics to the point that the power of for-profits and the huge problems that creates cannot be addressed — our fragmented and constricted ‘democracies’ are reduced to pandering to the interests of a global ‘business’ ideology that is the true winner of last centuries proceedings (contrary to the myth that democracy was the big winner)". More [HERE]

PUBLICation from FORM in Perth, WA

PUBLIC was an wonderful arts and mural festival in Perth, WA that I took part in a few months ago. It brought together local and international artists to not only paint murals, but create programming and outreach that asked the public to contribute to a dialogue about how our cities are curated. Looking to make the festival a yearly event, Form created PUBLICation to speak to some of the issues address by the project, and gain some unique insight into the artists and thier processes. I was happy to contribute my thoughts about public space more generally and why a vibrant city street is key to a democratically oriented society. Read the digital version [HERE]

Ankles Phonebooth Takeover Video

Ankles just put a short video up on his site that features some phone booth advertising takeover work in Adelaide Australia. The video is interspersed with his other graffiti work almost as B-roll, and I like how it shows the crossover between types of public space work being practiced today. Enjoy more of Ankles work [HERE]

PUBLIC ACCESS - key archive and tool production

PublicAccess - Perth, Western Australia

A few years ago I was in Norway for NuArt. The festival brought me to Stavanger to cause a scene in downtown by removing every bus shelter advertisement and replacing it with artwork illegally. For a state sponsored arts festival that puts a huge part of its budgets behind large scale mural productions in a small oil rich town, I was happily surprised by my invitation and how progressive they showed themselves to be with that choice. There was one problem, I had no idea how to break into the ad infrastructure in Norway. Luckily for me volunteers were able to send me photos, take measurements, and generally help me figure out what I needed to make before I got on a plane.

I left for Norway equipped with a new tool I assumed would give me access to every shelter I would need access to, in order to blanket downtown. Upon arrival in Stavanger it became immediately clear that what we thought was the key, was in fact an aberration. I now know that many cities have several different keys that open infrastructure installed at different times. New models of bus shelters can have wildly different opening methods and Stavanger was no different. The more ubiquitous tool, and the one that would allow me to blanket downtown, was not in my possession and I had to figure it out fast.

After gathering some random hardware supplies, I was able to hand craft a tool that provided me access to the rest of Stavanger's infrastructure. I became excited by my resourcefulness and ease with which these keys could be made, even on the fly. Traveling over the next few months, I began to notice that this new key I had crafted in Stavanger was in fact quite universal, giving me access to advertising infrastructure all over Europe. In fact, with outdoor advertising run by a few large multinational corporations, a key that worked in Hong Kong, might also work in Tel Aviv and the idea for PublicAccess was born.

For the past two years I have been using my travels as an opportunity to build an archive of keys that open advertising infrastructure all around the world. The photos below are a selection of cities which I have gained access to, the list growing as I move around or work with artists from cities I have never been. The idea at this point is to make this archive available to anyone who wants it. I have in fact been giving these keys away slowly to personal requests. Over the next few months I will be creating a dedicated website for this project. The website will include a world map with accessible locations, a way to purchase the keys for a small donation, as well as 3d printable files and instructions. My hope is to make advertising takeover work easier for those who might want to get involved but don't know where to begin. As the keys are used and documentation of thier use is gathered in one place, I see this projects final stage being the exhibition of photographic documentation of work made using the archive that I have created. More info to follow as the website is finalized and this project goes fully live.

  PublicAccess - Brussels, Belgium

  PublicAccess - Hong Kong, China

  PublicAccess - Los Angeles, California

  PublicAccess - San Francisco, California

  PublicAccess - New York, New York

 PublicAccess - Shanghai, China 

 PublicAccess - Washington, DC

 PublicAccess - Saint Louis, Missouri

 PublicAccess - Oakland, California

Re+Public in Austin, TX and Perth, WA

Over a month ago we returned from a bit of travel and are only now getting around to posting about it. Apologies for the delayed report but better late than never.

Re+Public digital interactive mural for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

Many PublicAdCampaign readers are familiar with a secondary project we are working on called Re+Public. Its a collaboration 3 years in the making with our friends over at The Heavy Projects. You can visit our website [HERE] but long story short it is an investigation into Augmented Reality as a tool for public space media creation, and curation.

At a point in the not too distant future, many of us will be wearing smart glasses and other forms of heads up displays. These wearable smart phones will allow a level of digital overlay onto our daily lives that will have drastic effects on the way we experience public space. While there are arguments for and against this technology, heads up displays will be ubiquitous wether you like it or not. The upside, and reason for our initial interest in AR, is that you may one day be able to digitally opt out of outdoor advertising signage by simply running a digital ad blocking app.

With this core interest in mind, we began exploring AR's capabilities several years ago by helping other artists create digital interactive components to thier physical 2d murals. This was a way for us to familiarize ourselves with the unique capabilities of AR, its ability to integrate into the 3d environment, use interactivity and data collection to engage the user, turn static imagery into time based narrative media, and leap into the past through historical digital overlays.

Recently we were asked to take those skills and apply them to two murals of our own design in Austin Texas, and Perth, Western Australia. While these explorations do not constitute anti-advertising work, nor do they challenge ideas about who has access to our shared media environment, they are part of a process of investigation which will bring this technology to bear on those core PublicAdCampaign interests. We hope to bring you news of new AR anti-advertising initiatives soon. Until then enjoy the pretty pictures. We had a blast!


The PUBLIC festival in Perth was run by Form and it looks like it will be an ongoing yearly event considering the fantastic response from local residents. Form essentially invited 50 Australian and international street artists and muralists, to paint downtown Perth over the course of 2 weeks. Satellite projects in the Pilabra, with inner city youth, as well as parties and gallery exhibitions rounded out a packed program that got the city talking about art and culture's role in developing a healthy vibrant city of the future. It was exciting to see new digital media creeping into what would normally be more traditional mural arts programming. We can't thank Form enough for having the vision and gumption to invite the Re+Public team.

 Re+Public digital interactive mural for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

 Re+Public digital interactive bus shelter for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

 Re+Public digital interactive bus shelter for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

Re+Public digital interactive mural for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

This year we were also invited to SXSW interactive to do a enormous wheat pasted mural measuring 84'x34'. This was our first real foray into mural making at this scale and we were excited that we got the thing on the wall, let alone that the locals seemed to like it. A big thanks to the IEEE, and Qualcomm for helping to offset the cost of this murals production. 

Re+Public digital interactive mural for SXSW Interactive - Austin, TX

Expect a new Re+Public mural in NYC come mid September. Until then we will keep you posted about less frivolous endeavors with Augmented Reality as soon as we can. 

Random Projects in Perth, WA

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

I was recently in Perth, Western Australia for the PUBLIC festival put on by FORM. I was asked to come as part of Re+Public, a side project to PublicAdCampaign exploring our digital commons. I can't go to another country to do a digital mural and not get my hands dirty making new keys, and work, in bus shelters. Big thanks to Kid Zoom and Stormie Mills for being amazing artists and friends while I was in town.

For this quick takeover I spelled out the words LENT TIME using 4 double sided bus shelters, on the busy St Georges Terrace. The lettering was intentionally abstract with the hopes that the images stood out as random designs, before being understood together as a word. In one direction the viewer read LENT and the other TIME, a comment on the short duration that the work would likely be up.

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

LENT/TIME Perth 2014

I then did a quick run of phonebooths along the same large street. Each phonebooth had its advertisement removed and was then photographed. This photograph was then installed several days later at the same location much like the Echo project. It was in fact Kid Zoom who coined the name Echo project and so I found it fitting to do something similar in his home town.

Echo #1 - Perth 2014

Echo #2 - Perth 2014

Echo #3 - Perth 2014

Global Liberal Media Please Gets Out During The Day

Global Liberal Media Please is a campaign run by Kyle Magee out of Australia. The campaign demands an advertising free public space with the understanding that a true democracy can only exist with a democratic media system from which the citizens of that democracy might make informed and unbiased decisions. In a world where our media systems (and in this case specifically that media system which monopolizes public space) are run multinational corporations that make money from commercial advertising, democratic curation of those spaces doesn't seem likely. This leaves the promise of democracy far out of reach as our decisions about how to best serve our collective interests are made using the information we get from a commercially driven media system.

It is with this in mind that Kyle protests public advertising networks by "vandalizing" them in broad daylight. This is done with the intention of getting arrested, allowing him to take his grievances directly to the courts. This may sound a bit mental, and once you have read some of Kyle's musings on his adventures, it seems like he is well aware. And yet Kyle seems to be soldiering on, remaining determined to air his grievances. Why would someone continue to get arrested repeatedly for the same crime? For Kyle, this is in fact a cause worth getting arrested for, and I would tend to agree. the depth of his criticism is real, and the effects of using our public messaging systems to support private commercial interests are also real.

What Kyle's outrageous action demands, is that we treat this issue with the level of importance it deserves. Standing up for the destruction of our environment due to over consumption is an issue worth our full attention, as is the degradation of our collective social behavior as advertising implores us to focus on our personal needs rather than those of the community. These are real issues that advertising plays a huge role in perpetuating, being the fuel which keeps the engine of consumption always humming, and the repetitive drum that focuses us inward. To adress these massive issues we must confront our relationship to our vast media systems in a real and meaningful way. Kyle's work begs us to realize this fact and take the first steps by banning outdoor advertising in our most public of spaces.

Take the time to go through Kyle's documentation of his ongoing efforts [HERE]

PUBLIC Festival in Western Australia

I am happy to announce I will be participating in the PUBLIC festival hosted by FORM in Perth, Western Australia. Check out their website for a full list of artists that will be descending on the city for a few weeks. Murals will be painted, conversations had, and a city will transform practically overnight.

I'm attending this festival mostly to represent Re+Public, the digital arts side of my public space investigations, but i'll still be pulling some typical PublicAdCampaign shenanigans as well. I've been working hard on the Re+Public project over the last few months trying to advance my understanding of this new digital technology and help my partner over at the Heavy Projects who has shouldered much of the programming burden thus far. Our contribution to the Public Festival is our most advanced deployment yet. Each mural image comes to life in full 3D, has video components, as well as passive data collection.  I'll post more as the festival gets going but until then, here is a quick takeover to let you all know I'm keeping busy.

Who Owns The Streets? Its Not Us

VIA Vandalog
This is a very nicely rounded articulation of the push and pull between the individual and the community in public space. The streets are a vibrant playground where self expression and the need for communication with your environment, comes in conflict with societies desire to curate and on some level control our shared visual space. The problem is this is an idyllic scenario, and conflict of the future. Currently this push and pull between the individual and the community takes place within an environment ruled by corporate messaging. This incredibly unfair power distribution between corporate interests and community interests, serves to reinforce a visual environment that is dominated by a singular capitalist message. We have come to fully accept that a majority of the visual landscape will be sectioned off for corporate messages in the form of bilboards, bus shelters, free standing, phone booths, wallscapes, lollipos, etc. We do this by perpetuating a system of private property ownership that biases access to our visual landscape to those with money. Without breaking that system of dominance in our visual landscape, the fight for self expression vs community interests will be undertaken within a larger context of cultural domination by corporate agendas. It would seem our conversations about tolerance will be overshadowed by a devotion to the images that surround us and the consumerist ideologies which are tearing at our social fabric and the very planet we live on.  

Ankles Ad Takeovers in Adelaide Australia

Ankles sent me these pics of a few ad takeovers he did as well as a collaboration with fellow artists RunCrackerRun and KingInk. Every time I think I know who is active over ads I find another artist doing great work.

Ankles

Ankles, RunCrackerRun, KingInk

The Kids Are All Right!

NEKO, Madrid

Despite the fact that the issue of advertising using public space to spread commercial messages that in turn have gross negative affects on our society, isn't really being adressed these days, I am heartened to see such a healthy dose of artistic action on the streets that pays no mind to the legal basis upon which these ads come to exist on our streets. The city is ours and the messages we choose to surround ourselves with are a reflection of who we are collectively. We should be ecstatic that citizens take the time and effort to bring us something other.

Lister, Sydney

NEKO, Madrid

Lister Bus Shelter #2

Looks like Lister is having fun with the bus shelters in Sydney. As far as I know this is the second takeover that has come up on Instagram by the renowned st. artist. Its great to see even more characters using ad spaces to brighten our streets, even if it isn't sanctioned behavior.

Lister - Ad Takeover on Instagram

This sure as hell looks like a Lister bus shelter takeover posted two days ago. Haven't ever seen anything like this out of the adventure painter from Australia so ill be keeping my eye out for more.

Global Liberal Media Please - The Work of Kyle Magee

Image of ad takeover by Kyle Magee in Melbourne Australia
---------
It's funny, I have been working on the PublicAdCampaign project for over 10 years now. As both an artistic and activist endeavor it has had its ups and downs, fast paced movement, and lulls in activity. At times it seems worth giving up on and at other times the only way forward. When asked to summarize my goals I often respond,

"To better the health of our public spaces and by extension our collective society by questioning the role outdoor advertising plays in our shared visual public environment."

While removing the burden of commercial media on our public spaces might be a clear aim, the path taken to get there is not. Despite all of my activities, I have yet to see any significant change in how we treat our shared public spaces. I take heart in the small victories and know that my role is partially to bring attention to a question which unduly receives very little. I am a small part in a growing machine that one day will bring real and permanent change to our public spaces. Actively expressing my views is an important part of helping to create the society I want to live in.

That said the tactics one chooses to fight an injustice or bring an issue to light are not all created equal. Kid Zoom recently made me aware of one of the most well spoken (minus the constant expletives thrown into his writing) and courageous advocates for a democratic and open public media space that I have ever come upon. Kyle Anthony Magee from Australia does one thing, he gets arrested. His tactic is to buff over outdoor media as public protest which he believes is within his rights. In the process, Kyle leaves behind notes, manifestos, his phone number and name, and other information implicating him for his "crimes". He has posted his police interview in which he admits to his actions but demands he is not guilty. He is open and upfront about his views and believes that the fastest way to have them implemented is to put them before the law. He has gone so far as to continue his actions despite the courts telling him not to, bringing his actions to their very steps in defiance.

To the average individual and in particular his arresting officers, Magee must seem borderline mad, but to me he is convicted. I have never gone as far as Magee has to put myself in harms way, but I have openly taken responsibility for my actions with the understanding that there could be legal ramifications, and these would bear out a discussion of the issues. It would seem that Kyle's method eschews all of the cat and mouse in order to bring the issue to the relevant opinion makers as swiftly as possible. It is a bold tactic and one which I hope wins the hearts of his fellow Australians. While his tactics may seem brash, they speak to the magnitude of his beliefs. His willingness to stand behind his actions, despite the harm which will come to him by doing so, should give everyone pause and cause them to look harder at his demands.

The questions Kyle poses about commercial media and its affects on global poverty, global environmental issues, and our individual and social psychological health are relevant questions to ask in a world which faces such immense hurdles to solve each of these growing problems. What if we banned commercial media in public space? What effects would that have on our individual health and behavior and how would those individual effects add up to a global effect on both our planet and our society as a whole? While you may not agree with Kyle's methods, you must agree that the questions he asks us to ask ourselves are extremely important as commercial media invades more and more of our daily lives. If the answers we come up with serve to promote commercial media than so be it, but we cannot be sure until we dare to look. Magee, in the most agressive of ways is asking us to look, and at a great cost to himself and im sure to those around him. I think we should all give him a bit of our time.

To see Mr. Magee's protest chronicled, please visit www.globalliberalmediaplease.net