Ron English Bus Shelter Work in Brooklyn and Manhattan

Ron English is an old staple in the ad takeover world and here are two recent images of Bus Shelter takeovers in NYC. Enjoy!

A Look Back at Norway's Nuart Festival, a Gathering of Street Artists From L.A. and Around the World

While the article by Shelly Leopold below describes me as an opportunist as opposed to an artist, it does show some of the wonderful AR quickly pulled off by the Re+Public team at this years NuArt festival. Artist's outdoor works for NuArt face harsh Norwegian conditions and paper works by Swoon are particularly susceptible to the elements. Bringing them back with AR seemed a worthy endeavor. Look for more from Re+Public in the next few weeks as we officially launch in 2013. 

VIA LA Weekly

In Stavanger, Norway, every September for the past 12 years, Nuart, one of the largest street art festivals in the world, transpires. Closeted in the beautiful Fijords, Stavanger is a quaint, oil-rich community with a high standard of living, sometimes making the list as most expensive in all of Europe. However, it is not easy to get to, rains 20 hours out of every day (at least in the fall) and has a zero tolerance law when it comes to tagging and graffiti. A perfect spot to host preeminent street art and its artists? More [HERE]

The Rising Tide Creeps Closer to the Shore

Robert Montgomery Install Photo for Brandalism

About a month ago I was asked to contribute some work to an upcoming billboard takeover project in the UK called Brandalism. Without all that much information to go on, I was told there would be an international list of artists contributing and that the project looked to reclaim about 50 billboards. This morning I was happily surprised to see that the project had been completed and that 33 billboards had been reclaimed with the work of 24 incredible artists. With a line up including artists such as Ron English, OX, Robert Montgomery, Dr. D, Know Hope and many more, this project was a serious endeavor to put great work up in place of the trivial advertising content usually associated with these locations. 

While my personal interest has never been to replace ads with "good" art, this project shows just how affective quality imagery can be as a juxtaposition to the inane content we are used to. With projects like NYSAT, ToSAT, MaSAT, Artung!, cARTography and now Brandalism (and many more), it seems a rising tide of opposition to the over branding and public space abuse we have become so comfortable with is finally gaining momentum. The language all of these projects share does not suggest that somehow artists want representation as much as they want to call into question the medium we have chosen to surround ourselves with. What are the affects of a commercially saturated visual public environment? Can we imagine alternative uses for the public environment and in doing so strive to reach the utopian city we all deserve to live in as we move boldly into the future. 

View more of the Brandalism project as the site is updated with content over the next few days. (apparently my work is being reprinted as the cops muddled my install and my posters were abandoned for a safe continuation of the project…bummer)

"For years artists have learned the tactics and methods needed to create art works within the streets and we have the ability to use this creative potential to show others ideas, images and truths. The Brandalism project will be pushing the boundaries of appropriate acts of citizenship at a time of political, environmental and economic crises."

View the full site [HERE]

POPaganda: The Art and Subversion of Ron English

VIA Vandalog

Billboard takeover by Ron English

This is an old video, but definitely a must-see. Ron English is one of the most intelligent and politically aware artists I can think of, and this video explains his billboard takeover activities perfectly. Thanks to Bomit for the reminder that this was out there.

AR I AD Takeover NYC - Official Release

A little over a week ago PublicAdCampaign and The Heavy Projects tested an augmented reality advertising takeover project in Times Square. By using the actual advertisements as triggers, we were able to virtually reclaim complete ad campaigns and digitally hijack advertisements all over the city. What is most exciting to me is that because the augmentation happens using an actual physical trigger, the overlaid image is able to track in real time and retain perspectival relationships. This makes the overlay seem like it is truly there as it moves to accommodate your viewing angle. While semi-akward to view through a smart device held in ones hand, imagery overlaid using sunglasses with display capabilities would seamlessly integrate your digital and real life, allowing for the tactical omission of unwanted messages. (I know this all sounds a bit crazy but buckle up cause its coming whether you like it or not) The potential for this test program is profound and I dare say a step in the right direction to removing all outdoor advertising from public space and democratizing public dialogue once and for all. While the hurdles are still great, the future looks interesting and we are excited to be on the cutting edge of new possibilities. You can download the full press release [Here] or read it below.

While other media outlets such as television and the Internet have founds ways to provide users with the ability to filter their informational intake, public space remains the elusive frontier in which commercial interests govern the discourse.
In an effort to highlight the individual's lack of autonomy in this arena, Public Ad Campaign (NYC) in collaboration with The Heavy Projects (LA) have begun to explore the potential of augmented reality to reappropriate outdoor commercial signage in order transform, filter, and democratize the messaging in public space. Using the Junaio AR platform, the AR | AD Takeover channel has reappropriated five outdoor advertising campaigns by turning them into augmented reality markers. Specifically, the channel uses five ads in New York City's Times Square as triggers for a curated street art show that includes works by Ron English, OX, PosterBoy, John Fekner, and Dr. D.

As an alternate vision, we imagine a city landscape where instead of commercial billboards, a digitally open environment where individuals can determine their own visual dialogue through the participation in and subscription to augmented reality able to reflect our nuanced private interests. No longer is there a consumptive monologue, but rather options in a filterable and user-defined space where private interests are no longer subordinate to commercial ends.

For related and inspirational projects check out the Artvertiser and Add-Art

Well That Went Viral Before I had A Chance To….

Photo by Will Sherman of CityPhile

As you may or may not know, PublicAdCampaign and The Heavy Projects tested a new platform this weekend that uses Augmented Reality to virtually replace outdoor advertising with the artworks of some of my favorite physical outdoor advertising takeover artists, including Ron English, PosterBoy, John Fekner, OX, and Dr. D. A few bloggers were on hand to capture the magic and before we could compile an extensive video walkthrough of the project in action, things went viral, even being picked up by AdWeek. I will be posting a much more intense video in the next week or so showing the technology at work and in particular its ability to track the object in real time and correct for perspectival shifts which make the "takeover" feel almost real.

While this was a beta test of what is to be a much larger ongoing project that aims to eradicate outdoor advertising from your public space interaction, the program is live and running for anyone to view. You can do so by going to your app store or market on your iOS or Android device and searching Junaio. Download this program and search AR AD TAKEOVER. once the program loads you can hold your device up to any of the following advertisements to view their virtual replacement. That said, do it quick as the ads we have chosen will come down in the next week or so. One of our hurdles will be figuring out how to feed this project current ads as the content changes so you never have to look at an ad in public space again!

AR AD TAKEOVER Triggers:

Horrible Bosses - Horizontal phonebooth advertisement
30 Minutes or Less - Horizontal phonebooth advertisementCrazy Stupid Love - Horizontal phonebooth advertisementCrazy Stupid Love - Horizontal subway entrance advertisementHarry Potter - Horizontal phonebooth advertisementAliens and Cowboys - Billboard at 42nd street and 7th avenue SWC

Augmented Reality Advertising Takeover in Times Square from Will Sherman on Vimeo.

Radical Rutgers Professor Maps Toxic Ads, Then Buys Billboards to Publish Her Results

I just stumbled upon Naa Oyo A. Kwate's pursuits through GOOD magazine. She is currently working on projects which map and catalog outdoor advertising content and relate those statistics back to social health issues which might be a result of said advertising. Her results are astounding and yet another reason for the public to take seriously the role that outdoor advertising plays in our public and thus private lives. On top of this she plans to purchase outdoor advertising space for her own messages which speak to the problems she has come across. While I love this idea, I would be incredibly surprised if she was allowed to purchase ad space to critique outdoor advertising. I will be doing more research on Naa as I am sure there is much more to discover. While were at it, Ron English knew tobacco, McDonalds, and liquor ads were bad way back when. He didn't map them, he just re-imagined them.

Naa Oyo A. Kwate's innovative research analyzes the urban environment in terms of its impact on health. As Associate Professor in the Department of Human Ecology at Rutgers University, she carries out studies that focus on what she calls "toxic exposures" to things like fast-food outlets, advertising messages, and even subtler cues such as bulletproof glass, barbed wire, or shopfront security grilles. [More]

Does Advertising Work? According to Ron English

Of course he's right but...

VIA Animal NY

As part of his contribution to the Welling Court Mural Project in Queens, artist Ron English put up these posters articulating the effectiveness of advertising.

Ron English Welcomes Obama’s Presidency with LA Billboard

from Juxtapoz by katie@juxtapoz.com


Ron English, the man behind the now iconic (although not quite as iconic as Shepard’s Obama Hope image) Abraham Obama image welcomed our new President to office in a unique (and eye-catching) manner: he and his crew of ad-busting minions took over a Clear Channel billboard in Los Angeles. So typical of Ron; always needing to be the biggest and best, huh? Well, we love it and suggest you sneak a glance if you’re in sunny SoCal, or peep his latest gallery work, which is now on display through January at FIFTY24SF Gallery.

More on Ron English at www.popaganda.com

Ron English Interview

VIA Wooster Collective


Ron English has been taking over billboards for a long time. I've always understood his work to come from the political side, taking his issues with outdoor advertising based on its content and marketing tactics which often take advantage of the under represented. The beginning of this interview says otherwise. Ron talks about the freedom of speech as well as the control of public space issues with clarity and earnestness. Its a great look into his thoughts and process.

Ron English in London-2008

Ron English has been taking over billboards for as long as I can remember and then some. Check out all of his work at his website