Spending Time With Posterchild

K-Skill has produced yet another "spending time with" video on an ad takeover artist in New York, PosterChild. Check out his site for more street art action and while you're at it watch him break it down in Dancing Drummer.

TOSAT-Website Up and General Thoughts

It has been a week since the TOSAT project happened, the website is up, and I figure it time to write my thoughts on the whole thing. First off, this was really a test to see if something of this scale could be done in a city away from home, and the result is a resounding yes. While things went smoothly-no arrests and a one hundred percent success rate in getting work up-it became abundantly clear that this would not have happened without the incredible help of several individuals who did all of the initial groundwork months before the action went down. They are in no particular order, PosterChild, Sean Martindale, Martin Reis, and Vanessa at the DuSpa Collective. As well, without the 60 plus artists that donated work for this production, TOSAT would not have happened. I want to make it clear that submitting work for this project is an act of beneficent citizenship and all of the participants should be commended for supporting this type of action which does more for the city of Toronto than it does for any personal interests they might have.

That said, planning for this Toronto action began with the last NYSAT project. Upon completion in NY, I was immediately interested in taking this model to other cities. I was duly impressed with the Toronto contingent of NYSAT which took a 13 hour bus ride all the way to NY to be a part of the action. Surely if they were willing to make that trek, their dedication to this kind of public space reform was profound, and they could be counted on to take the planning of TOSAT seriously. After many email communications it was decided that Pattison's Core Media Pillars would provide the right venue for a submission based project. Standard sizes and a dense network in Toronto's downtown core made them a perfect target. Martin Reis took the bull by the horns and went out to photograph every location he could find, giving us a detailed map from which to plan both the numbers of pieces we could handle, as well as how our teams could most efficiently hit a large number of locations in the shortest amount of time.

Next an email went out to our mailing list and we quickly reached 85 artists who were willing to submit work for TOSAT. This list included artists and activists alike, but partially because of the submission based aspect of the project, it seemed many more street artists and gallery artists were sending work. I was extremely happy about this fact for a number of reasons. For one it meant that the project was growing and interest was expanding beyond the hard core public space activists. It also meant that the "quality" (for lack of a better word) of the submissions would be raised. While these street advertising projects are about creating a large enough event that the public begins to questions advertising's use of public space, often critics will harp on the fact that much of the work is less than MoMA quality. Of course these critics fail to acknowledge that many of these works are either done under extreme time constraints and risk of arrest, or that artists are unwilling to polish a work knowing that the piece will quickly be removed, likely ending up in the garbage. Either way, the easier submissions are to look at, the less ammo the critics have and that can only help our cause.

While much of the project was planned before hand, I arrived in Toronto a week before the action to take care of final issues. My first task was to collect the works which had been trickling into Toronto over the last month. After counting the packages that had been received, there were only 45 artists who had sent in work, totaling only 70 some pieces. While I was under the expectation we would have 85 participants, I was obviously worried that the project would not have the support it needed to create a serious reaction. I sent out an email to those whose work I had not received to figure out what was going on. Responses varied and included some whose work had been returned because of customs fees which our receiver could not afford to pay (something we have learned can be escaped by warning participants to declare their works value to be less than 20 dollars) others had tracked packages which were still en route having been held up by customs or other delivery issues, and lastly about 15 artists had just plain flaked out. While the last response is typical of a project like this, it is also very difficult to deal with as the scope of the project and planning done before hand is dependent on people coming through on their obligations. In the end everything worked out and much of the work which was on its way when I first counted arrived without incident.

Now knowing exactly how much work we were in possession of, the serious planning could take place. I sat down with Vanessa and figured out just how many installers/activists we would need. DuSpa, being a collective that includes an incredible roster of progressive and caring individuals came through in spades, providing 16 participants to install the daytime pillar action and a similar number for the night time billboard action. It was decided that the "Ground" teams (handling the pillar locations) would depart at 5pm to insure daylight protest aspects of the project as well as insure photographs could be taken after installation in the event that the works were removed the next morning. The "Sky" teams would install under the cover of darkness, leaving our hideout at midnight with the expectation of a 4am return.

As we gathered at 3pm on Sunday, the day of the project, it was still pouring rain outside. Journalists, videographers and installers waited impatiently knowing installation could not begin until the rain stopped as many of the pieces were done on paper. Meanwhile, time was passed going over legal issues, briefing installers on how to enter the pillars and generally milling about anxiously. By 4pm the rain had stopped and by five it looked like the night would stay clear. We set out in six teams to blanket 41 pillars in less than 2 hours. While the first aspect of the project took place with little incident, it should be noted that initial scouting had turned up locations that had subsequently been removed by the time our action took place and some quick thinking was done by teams who found a few locations no longer existed. Again these issues will be dealt with in the next projects.

After removing over 160 ads, leaving PSA's in place, and installing over 90 pieces of artwork, participants returned exuberant and ready for the Sky team action. This aspect of the project was broken down into two teams. One containing the DuSpa contingent and the other Posterchild, Sean Martindale and myself. Each of our objectives was to whitewash 10 billboards in downtown Toronto, add some "art" and return home safely. While I was not on the DuSpa side of things I cannot attest to the ease of their outing but our team ran into no trouble at all. We painted out advertising with impunity for 3 hours in front of pedestrians, night shift workers, and transit employees until the very end. At our last location, ecstatic at our progress, we decided to end with a few photo ops. Having successfully painted the date of the project and a total of nine billboards we began to pack our truck.

Out of the corner of my eye, as I peeled a Pattison sticker from the side of our vehicle, I saw flashing lights. Knowing the police would box us in I continued at my task. Once they had pulled in behind our truck, they exited the car. At this point I looked over and said hello. The officer driving asked me to come over to him which I was already in the process of doing, saying something to the affect of "How you doing tonight?" He then looked me up and down, most likely because I was covered head to toe in paint drippings, and asked "Did you paint that billboard?" referring to the billboard painted with a giant 20 not 30 feet from our truck. Knowing I could not say no believably, I nonchalantly answered "Yes." He followed "You work for Pattison?" My truck said Pattison on the side so my only answer was again "Yes." He then looked me up and down slowly, I assume trying to find a reason to doubt me at which point he asked again quizzically. "You work for Patisson?" He clearly was not sure if he should believe me. It was at this point that I stupidly or maybe smartly responded, "Yeah we are just wrapping up our night, did a few of these in the neighborhood."

I do not suggest ever giving cops any more information than they ask for but in this situation it seemed to work in my favor. I seemed to truly believe that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing and I think it rubbed off. Without any hesitation I had told him what he didn't expect to hear, and offered more information unsolicited. It was too real and he motioned to his partner to get back in the car. Their engine started and they quickly left. Needless to say we jumped in the back of our vehicle and drove as far away from that area as we could, returning to our hideout around 4am.

All in all the project was a complete success and I hope everyone involved felt the same way. The media in Toronto reported about the project widely and we hope that some of the issues that Torontonian's wanted raised will be reinvigorated by this action. Mainly, how the billboard by-law will play out in the coming months. Working in another city was a definite challenge. My tendencies to over control everything had to be let go and I was happily surprised with the results the true magicians behind this project ended up pulling off. While there are small details which will help us plan other cities more thoroughly, prevent us from loosing work, dropping participants, live mapping locations, etc. it was all about having a network of people in place willing to do some serious work. As much as we talk about the public space/anti-advertising activism world growing, this was truly an example of an international effort. Many of the participants had never met one another and had come together on faith and only our principles as common ground. Indeed a community of people exists floating around this type of activism and when that community hits, more people are brought into the fold, or at least into the conversation.

While this may be only a small step or too much work for so little return, I continue to believe that these projects are an important marriage of the art and activist world. With over half the world's population now residing in major metropolitan cities, the means of representation are becoming an ever important issue for our public spaces. If we let this issue go and do nothing about it we may find ourselves living in environments in which we have no say at all, where the normal array of visual elements becomes so privatized that questioning it may not even be a question at all. In fact we might already be there. If we choose to disobey current property laws and throw into question current tendencies to monetize and thus privatize our public experiences, we might just find our public spaces are missing a public element they might desperately need. And if this is a wild goose chase, citizens barking up the wrong tree in an effort to gain a better understanding of their relationship to their public environment and thus the society around them, then what have we lost?

In the end all the citizens of our cities have only to gain from non-violent civil disobedience like this. Ad revenues are quickly absorbed into multi-billion dollar budgets and our cities, if only for a moment, question something they pay little attention to otherwise. If anything these moments of contemplation are enough for me to continue forward but ultimately one would hope that opinions will begin to develop, seeds of ideas which will slowly alter the way we think about our public spaces, the people around us and the cities we want to live in.

more info at: www.publicadcampaign.com/tosat

UnderOneHundred Micro-Grant-PosterChild's Truth In Advertising

Typical NPA/Contest Promotions Placard

Back In February PosterChild created an altered placard for the NPA city outdoor illegal street level billboards. He was aware of the fact that these placards were a lie being perpetrated on NY City by NPA as it made its transition to a new company called Contest Promotions. Under this new company, NPA's illegal operations would be shut down and only those that could pretend to be running a raffle box would remain through a twisting of legal language. PosterChild's single placard flew under the radar while still informing the public of NPA's little secret, in a stark contrast to more overt actions we tend to carry out here at PublicAdCampaign. Needless to say, I wanted to see more.

At this same time I had been toying with the idea of running a micro-grant program. The grant would be on a rolling submission/review basis and the only stipulations would be that projects facilitate critical public interaction with outdoor advertising, and cost under one hundred dollars. Along with this small amount of production money PublicAdCampaign would help by tapping any resources we might have which could facilitate potential projects. PosterChild's Truth In Advertising was a natural choice. In total the entire project ended up costing $91.48 and produced about 40 fake placards. You can see all of the images [Here]

I would like to thank PosterChild for inaugurating this micro-grant program with such a fantastically simple and effective project. In doing so I would also like to open up the next cycle of grant submissions. A clever idea can go a long way, alter how people think about the spaces they live in, and change what they come to expect from the streets that surround them. We hope that even in a small way we can facilitate this process and enrich the cities of this world with innovative and fun public works. Please take a look at the simple guidelines for submitting a proposal [Here]

PosterChild Install-Spend Your Money Elsewhere
More Bullshit You Didn't Ask For

Deface, Improve, Remove

Poster Child's “Info-To-Go” in Toronto

Posterchild is hard at work in Toronto, not only taking over ads but improving upon the poor quality of the street furniture. I can't say enough good things about Posterchild's street work.

From Poster Child:

"I installed this piece yesterday!

It’s in a so-called “Info-To-Go” Pillar at University and Dundas! Only a few steps from the police station! :0

I wrote in 2008 about these pillars, and the rest of the Coordinated Street Furniture program in general, and that is a good place to go for background on this project, but I’ll get into more detail here about these “Information” Pillars specifically: 120 are due to be rolled out across Toronto- according to the cities website, 28 have been installed thus far.

They are an embarrassment and a shame for Toronto. Toronto is a great city, but we have a bad reputation amongst the rest of our nation. That isn’t anything new. We are thought of as a cold, ugly city obsessed with profit and completely bereft of culture. I live here, I love it here, and I know that image of us just isn’t true- but what other impression will we give to tourists and visitors to our city when we can’t even manage, as a city- the biggest in Canada I’ll remind you, to erect a simple post with tourist information and a map on it without succumbing to the temptation to privatize it and turn it into a profit-making venture? These “Information booths” are strictly billboards first, and tourist information second- and a distant second at that. The pillars are structured and oriented so that the ads get the best visibility and well over double the surface area. In fact, in most cases you would walk right past these ugly streetlevel billboards without ever realizing that it was SUPPOSED to be a tourist information pillar, never suspecting that there was a map tucked into the back, along with map dispensers- and in some cases- interactive touch screens. About those screens- I imagine that no one really ever expected the fancy hi-tech touch screens (How Toronto!) to operate indefinitely, but even I was taken aback when they were installed not working. They didn’t work from DAY ONE. They have NEVER worked. You can go check. Have a look at this booth I improved. The screen is dead. The map dispenser? It’s LED screen scrolls “SOLD OUT” and someone has posted the helpful label “Coming Soon” (Presumably, So you don’t waste your toonie on tourist information that actually won’t ever be coming.) The advertisements, of course, have been operational since the day the pillar has been installed. Like the streetlevel billboards masquerading as phonebooths in New York: As billboards, these pillars always work.

At least the scrolling LEDs at the top of the pillar give the time, right? It’s just too bad that the time displayed is incorrect by an hour.

But what more can we expect when we give the job of providing tourist information to a media giant? These companies are in the business of exploiting public space for profit, not in the business of enhancing
your experience of it for pleasure. They tell tourists what to buy, not where to go for free walking tours.

Toronto is spending tons of money selling itself as a cultural place. Events, promotions, slogans: we are told that we “Live With Culture”- and yet at the same time the city is defeating it all with short-sighted stupid moves like this. Yes, it’s just street furniture. But street furniture has such a huge impact on how our city looks and feels. It shapes it on the ground, it makes the first impression, and it continuously shapes further impressions as we explore the streets and all the sights and sounds that they have to offer.

And if we ever get lost in our explorations, we can always go to the nearest “info to go” pillar and find out what perfume we ought to be wearing.
(As you can see from the nightime shots that.. ah.. reveal which ads I.. harvested in order to make this work [I can't afford all that printing! Plus Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Right?] in this case, that perfume would be Marc Ecko.)

Of course, tourist information pillars should be providing a map and helping the lost AT MINIMUM. They should also provide some information on local lore, landmarks, and legends. So what I’ve done is fix this pillar (something I just couldn’t do with the broken payphones of New York) it is now, at least for the time being, a true tourist information pillar. It currently informs passersby that care to look, in the two official languages, about the nearby Canada Life Building and it’s weather beacon in brief. I hope it shows just a little of the great proud history and culture that we have to offer here in Toronto, and also how a different way is not only possible, but easily achieved. Imagine the rich possibilities if every future “info to go” pillar actually showcased some site-specific local history and knowledge?"

Art, Advertising, Activism and Alchemy Video

Art, Advertising, Activism and Alchemy was a small lecture series presented at the Wonderland Arts space in Queens New York. I spoke in part about my own work, but also attempted to define some of the reasons behind why we as artists, working without authorization in the public, do what we do. As well, how these motivations might inform our process and create works which go beyond that of typical street art and graffiti to engage the public more directly and increase the health of our shared public spaces. You can see all 4 artist's talks [HERE] A big thank you to Jason and PosterChild for inviting me to be a part of this event.



As I was trying to get a clear projection of my thoughts for this talk, I wrote down what I wanted to say beforehand. I speak quickly in the video and therefore am offering the text and slide show as a download for your enjoyment. wonderlandtalk.zip

PosterChild Suggests A More Prudent Use Of Pay Phones In NYC

PosterChild is wrapping up his stay in NY very soon, but not before he gets out there and does a few more projects to make you think about the advertising that surrounds us and how it is altering our lives for better, or worse. His most recent project aims at making the viewer aware of the fact that the ubiquity of outdoor advertising does not have to be an entirely bad thing. In fact the millions of dollars that OOH advertisers are making off the space they are occupying in each and every one of our brains can be put to a better use than simply lining the pockets of media conglomerates. He writes...

"You know what I’d like to see? If they’re going to maintain, and even grow, the network of payphones as an advertising-revenue generating platform, then they should make all local calls free. That is the old “Contract” of advertising, after all: We shouldn’t have to be exposed to your damn ads if you’re not going to give us something back in return." More [HERE]

PosterChild's New York Sunsets

PosterChild is wrapping up an extended stay in New York and he is busier than ever bringing us creative content. PosterChild is a good friend and I love his work so I say this with the utmost respect, revealing the process often helps grab peoples attention but the tape used to hold these images to the advertisements bothers me.

New York Sunsets
by posterchild

Art, Advertising, Activism & Alchemy-An Evening of Artist Talks at Wonderland

Art, Advertising, Activism & Alchemy-An Evening of Artist Talks at Wonderland, Friday November 20th.

After an intense and long conversation about the PublicAdCampaign project, street art, graffiti, advertising, and public space with a wonderful and interesting film producer this morning, I felt it was time to announce this upcoming talk at Wonderland. It will feature the work and words of three other artists who I greatly admire, including Jason Eppink, Posterchild, and Gabriel Reese. Along with discussing the PublicAdCampaign project, I will be talking about the larger goals I think we all share as artists working in public spaces whether we know it or not, and how those might inform our future as a collective community.

Super Hero Changing Station

Charlie beat us to the punch on this one...

VIA Urban Prankster

New York City has had a ton of phone booth art this fall. Lately it seems like you can’t go for a walk without seeing a great piece by an artist like Jordan Seiler. The above was done by Toronto’s Posterchild, who’s been hanging out in NYC quite a bit lately.

I love these unauthorized projects because they’re turning useless eyesores into art. There are certain city blocks in NY that have upwards of 10 public telephones. When is the last time anyone used a payphone? I understand their utility for those who can’t afford or happen to be without a cell phone, but really, do we need multiple phones on every corner? These structures are simply huts to cash in on advertising dollars, and they needlessly pollute the scenery of our streets.

Here’s a great NY Times article from 2007 that explains that pay phone advertising rakes in $62 million a year: As Billboards, Public Phones Always Work.

Also of note, you can see both Seiler and Posterchild, along with Jason Eppink and Specter, speak about their work on Friday, November 20 out in Astoria — details here.

PosterChild New Work

What I believe to be Posterchild's first, and not last, phone kiosk install.

PosterChild New Work

If this is any indication of what PosterChild's stay in New York will bring, I am very excited. Keep your eyes on the street as he is known to put up a piece every day.

PosterChild Tells NPA What He Thinks Of Their Contest Promotions

Yesterday I went out with PosterChild, Jason Eppink, Steve Lambert, and Packard Jennings for lunch. Our talk inevitably surrounded upcoming personal projects, collaborative street actions and the age of the urinals at the Old Town Bar on 18th street. Posterchild was leaving for Toronto that evening and had one last project to put up before he left. Targeting NPA City Outdoor's pathetic attempt to convert their third party illegal advertisements into legitimate first party signs, he remade the typical sign that now adorns all NPA illegal signage in the city. This piece was made at the corner of 19th street and 10th avenue in the same location Walker Tieser was arrested during the NYSAT project.

Posterchild Weighs in on the World

Every so often, there is someone who I want to know more about. I ask them some questions and they answer them in the typical fashion. Sometimes I get great stuff, sometimes not. Other times I get detailed descriptions of how to change the world we live in and it floors me. Thank you so much to Posterchild for having the vision and the words to fully explain yourself.

Why do you create work in the public?

Man, that should be easier to answer than it is. I think maybe this
question was easier to answer when I was younger and just starting.
Full of manifestos and bluster and whatnot. Now there are so many more
caveats and complications and doubts. Or maybe they’ve always been
there, but they’ve had time to grow. ANYWAY, In brief, I work in the
public, because that’s where PEOPLE are. I want to connect and
communicate. The street is the first -maybe best- place to do that.

Why do you create work over/using outdoor advertising?

Because that’s what already in the public. It’s extremely aggressive,
everywhere, and often illegal. I throw my own 2 cents into the mob,
and I don’t see that as being particularily worse ( any more “illegal”
or immoral) than what these groups are doing already. In fact, I think
it’s much better. But is that two wrongs?

Tell us something about where you live and your relationship to your city.

I live in Toronto, and it is the greatest city and the worst city. I
love it. But I’m often frustrated by it. I feel like it has so much
potential and so many people working towards bettering it. Toronto has
been unusually blessed with a very large number of people who care so
deeply about it and work so passionately for it. We love the TTC even
though it’s underfunded, overcrowded, and runs despiteful, adversarial
ads that frame us and treat us like criminals.

How would you describe your relationship with advertising?

Complex. Advertising informs so much of what I do. Advertising is at
the core of graffiti and street art. Advertising is the genisis for
modern graffiti. Advertising begat graffiti which begat street art,
which both beget more advertising. I’ve never claimed to be a culture
jammer or ad buster. I don’t exist soley in opposition to
advertisting, and if it were to sweept off our street tomorrow, I’d
still be doing my thing out there. But advertising feeds me. It
provides near guilt-free surfaces to create work on. Many a discarded
box of wildposting posters has had their contents become a stencil or
a poster. I love to literally “Flip” and ad, and make my own work on
the back. It’s weird. I dislike advertising, but I’m disapointed when
I find a video billboard has been removed because it is the required
surface for creating art on, for creating my art with, and it is now
gone, you know? True, I just need to walk a few blocks to find a new
one, but still, working with advertising has made ads an interegal,
needed element of those artworks, and that can create a weird,
interesting conflict.

Having done both, is there a difference between working in Toronto or New York?

Yes. Many. I’ll need to do more work on NY before I’m ready to draw
clear distinctions. But there are differences to be sure. Every city
is different. You need to really get to know a city- you need a
healthier, stronger realationship with the city than I have with NY
before you can really work successfully- that is, like an insightful,
engaged local- within the cities space. You can still make work -good
work- without that engagement, but I think it could have a “tourist”
feel to locals.

Tell us one of your favorite moments working on the street.

Hmm. Maybe when a drunk dude came and used his drunken strength to
help TEETH and I get these heavy sheets of particle board in place so
I could screw them into the lil’ billboard we were taking over.
Crowdsourced labour!

http://www.bladediary.com/worktogether-wednesday-wteeth-spiritualism/

If you could run a fantasy camp, what would it be?

Oh man. I guess I would run a camp for city commuters. I would make
all the car drivers ride bikes. You would have to surrender your keys
when you entered the camp. There would be a week of lessons (including
classes on bike maintenance and repair) and practice and fun rides
around the city and it’s parks. There would be history tours and
architecture tours and street art/graffiti tours and food tours and
other themed tours- campers could sign up for whatever tours sounded
interesting to them! And when the week is up, then it’s back to work-
but we keep your keys! After another week, you’d get your car keys
back at a reunion where everyone could share war stories of their week
of bike commuting, have drinks, and cement friendships! The camp would
provide bikes for anyone who wanted to take the camp, but couldn’t
afford it, and provide safe rides home after the reunion party for
anyone unfit to ride a bike or drive a car. We would form partnerships
with city politicians and corporate leaders, encouraging corporate and
civic groups of campers- and use funds (and awareness) raised by the
camp to push for more tax dollars for bike lanes, lockups, and
infrastructure, and less tax money going to support car culture.

Hell, that sounds good. Lets do it.

PosterChild Was in Town and I Didn't Talk to Him Long Enough

PosterChild collaborated on the NYSAT project, coming all the way down from Canada to participate. He just sent me these videos and it made me realize I had a chance to talk to this guy and I didn't take full advantage of the opportunity. The more I see of his work, the more I like what I see. It's a serious playful good time and I love it.

I AM And Posterchild Time Lapse For NYSAT

Posterchild came down from Canada to Participate in the NYSAT project that happened April 25th of last month. Him and I AM not only managed to grab several amazing locations, but to time lapse the whole process. Here are the fantastic results.

LEETO Takes Advantage

I was tipped off that LEETO hit the big blank canvas PosterBoy provided a while back and sure enough when I went to the site he had. One may not agree with the content that was provided by LEETO, a quick "throw up" (used by graffiti artists when they are in a spot which is dangerous and don't have time to execute a more intricate piece), but one can't overlook the public interaction and communication happening here. It should be noted that the criminalization of graffiti by the city is responsible for LEETO's inability to carry out something more elegant and earnest in this situation.

I could not be happier with the direction this project has gone. It is a crystal clear image of how the public space should be used and for whom it should be used. Thanks PosterBoy and thanks LEETO for taking the time to talk to us through your environment. We are listening.

Stained Glass-PosterChild

This is some truly far out shit by PosterChild who is a toronto based public artist collaborating with Jason Eppink and Steve Lambert of the Anti Advertising Agency. Not only does the work look stunning but the messages are clear, re-appropriation of public advertising structures only leads to good things. www.bladediary.com