Vi kan bedre (We can do better)

Our friends in Norway are launching a Subvertising campaign to coincide with their national Holiday. There is an open call for submissions and I highly suggest you try to support them if you can. If you are paying attention to the work of advertising, you will notice the growing list of groups and projects aimed at tackling the commercial abuse of our shared public spaces and the lack of civic dialogue afforded to those spaces because of the monopoly commercial media has on them. It is wonderful to see one more group added to the list and I look forward to seeing their project in action. 

Vi kan bedre (We can do better)

250 artworks - 5 cities - 1 day

Summary

Vi kan bedre (We can do better) is a nationwide day of action that will see 250 adverts replaced with art in five major cities across Norway on May 17th.

What?

A utopian art project that aims to stimulate conversation about what ´we can do better´ to uphold the values celebrated on Norway´s National Day.

The coordinated day of action follows the time-honored traditions of ´subvertising ´ (subverting advertising), ad-hacking, culture jamming and more as a means of reclaiming the city as a co-created space. 

We believe the time has come to celebrate the values we share as Norwegians while revealing the self-interested forces undermining them and are calling upon all proud Norwegian's to practice what they preach by supporting this campaign.

Why?

We believe that the visual realm in public space belongs to everyone, not just the businesses and organisations that can afford to rent our attention. We believe that public space should be a forum for dialogue, debate and the exchange of ideas, not least on May 17th. 

Inequality, pollution, climate change, mass extinction; all these problems are caused by the processes of consumer capitalism, which is fuelled by advertising. 

Whether it's the recently approved copper mine in Kvalsund in the Arctic Circle; the dumping of mine waste in Repparfjord on the coast of the Barents Sea; or the overall increase in oil and gas production - set to hit a new peak level in 2023 - the changes we are witnessing to both the natural environment and civil society concern us all.

When?

Advertisers calculate the value of a campaign based on the number of people (or eyeballs) that see it. As such, there´s no more valuable day for outdoor advertising than 17th May, when whole cities and communities take to the streets for a day of parades and celebrations to mark Norway's independence.

How?

Artists, activists, designers, illustrators, photographers, writers, poets from all backgrounds are invited to submit their artwork through an online submission process administrated via our dedicated website: www.vikanbedre.com

             

Our crowdfunding campaign aims to raise 35,249kr to cover the cost of professionally printing and distributing 250 large-format prints to 5 Norwegian cities where they will be installed by our teams prior to May 17th. 

Pictures of the installed artworks will be uploaded to social media using the hashtag #vikanbedre as well as circulated to all of our backers via email.

Each artwork will also be made available for download, for free, after the action on May 17th via our dedicated website: www.vikanbedre.com 

Who?

Vi kan bedre (We can do better)is a not-for-profit platform created by a dedicated group of volunteers made up of artists, activists and environmentalists who love the country of Norway and what it represents.

Contact

Email: subvertisingnorway@protonmail.com

For more information, please visit: www.vikanbedre.com

Contemporary Art Stavanger Interview

Big thanks to Heather Jones for taking the time to listen to me rant on and on about my work. 

VIA: Contemporary Art Stavanger

The now ubiquitous Stavanger-based street art initiative Nuart, in partnership with Stavanger Aftenbladet, has recently branched out to include yet another platform for public art: a large-scale billboard located in the heart of Stavanger that presents a rotation of short-term installations by commissioned local and international artists. More [HERE]

The PublicAccess Website Has Been Updated To Include New Cities and Photos

The PublicAccess Project site has updated with new cities, new keys, and new work done by artists and individuals from around the world. As PublicAdCampaign readers will know, we launched the PublicAccess project just a few months ago and have been steadily sending out keys ever since, as well as gathering information about distant lands and thier advertising infrastructure. Check the video shot during a much needed stock replenishment. 

As an ongoing project, we are always looking to expand the PublicAccess map and get more people involved. If you don't see your city on the map, but want to help us figure it out, email us and we will be happy to troubleshoot the problem with you. 

Until then, enjoy some of the fantastic work that is being produced with PublicAccess tools and get involved yourself by getting a key right now. 

 Work by Dr. D - London

 Work by DB Cooper - San Francisco

 Work by Lister - NYC

 Work by Michael DeFeo - NYC

Work by Icy & Sot - Stavanger

NuART-Showtime

This video is a little bit over the top but enjoy it for what it is, a bunch of rebellious souls going to Stavanger Norway to incite art. There are traditional street artists, graf legends, activists, and amazing visionaries in this mix so enjoy the music and watch the magic unfold. Bravo to Norway for being brave enough to see new visions of public space and to follow through on those visionary thoughts. 

Spreading the Cheer

One of the best things about traveling is meeting new people with an interest in advertising takeovers or subversion. I happily give away the tools of my trade to anyone who seems legitimately concerned with public space and it seems like one of my gifts is already being put to use in this equipment test. I hope to be posting from subversions from this individual in the future.