OX continues to make the best site specific advertising takeover work that I am aware of. I cannot begin to tell you how happy it makes me. OX's Billboards Project in Cologne from OPEN WALLS Gallery on Vimeo.

Last OX of 2016

I simply love this final OX piece of 2016. While the world around it remains a bit gloomy and somber, the potential of nothing gives me hope we might find our way.

Mobstr Knows What Is And What Isn't Acceptable

Simple, effective and always on point. As funny as this piece is for a chuckle and a nod, this is pretty serious on a fundamental level. When we privilege one type of communication over another we are making a collective decision about our priorities and ultimately our desires for our future selves. As of right now, we got it all fucked up and Mobstr knows it.

What was Truth in Advertising?

I just got an email from the TIA and I have to be honest, I wasnt aware of thier work. This adds to the list of early billboard alteration teams like the Billboard Liberation Front, B.U.G.A.U.P, Ron English (whose work has gone off the deep end by wrapping around and eating it's own tail), and The CDC. Take a look and brush up on history.

You are invited to visit an exhibit of some of the finest billboard alterations you have ever seen. Here's one:

These billboards appeared on the streets of Santa Cruz, California, from 1980 to 1985. The billboards were made over by a clandestine network of midnight billboard editors operating under the name of Truth In Advertising, or TIA for short.

This exhibit of their historic work was first presented in 2007 at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. Now for the first time the exhibit is available on the web. It's made up of 12 billboards presented in the order in which they appeared on the streets of Santa Cruz. The sequence also tells the story of Truth in Advertising, and documents publicity and commentary. More [HERE]

Make No Mistake, Parzival Has My Attention

The always wonderful Luna Park just turned me on to Parzival's work, and I am surprised I haven't seen it before. Take a full look at his website to fully realize the lifelong insanity. I absolutely love it. More [HERE]

OX - Back in Town!

Guess who's back in town!

New Mobstr

Fresh new work from Mobstr

Thomas Dekeyser on Robert Montgomery

Thomas Dekeyser wrote a nice blog post on Robert Montgomery's work that I think does a good job of navigating his desire for subvertising work to always be illegal in order to retain the most powerful critique of capitalism and the systems that help to perpetuate it. Montgomery's work isnt always illegal and yet it is incredibly powerful so parsing these two thing out isn't easy when you want to see the world in black and white. Well worth a read as Dekeyser is becoming one of my favorite thinkers on this topic.

Last week I went to hear Robert Montgomery speak at The Art Conference. I’ve been reaching out to him for a while now, trying to arrange a conversation, without luck, so I was excited to finally hear one of my favourite subvertising practitioners elaborate on his practice and related politics. More [HERE]

New OX Collaboration In Paris

Here is a new collaboration between OX and one of his 80's crew members Trois Carre from the streets of Paris. I've said it before but I'll say it again, OX is my favorite ad takeover artists out there. While this piece is definitely a collaboration, partially cause OX just doesn't go this detailed very often and usually relies on simpler abstractions with his work, I still feel OX through and through. The relationship to the surrounding environment is something OX includes in most pieces and this collaboration relies heavily on the staircase to ground itself. For me, this is a very important tool for the ad takeover artist cause it allows the viewer to realize that something is amiss. Once that recognition happens, (something that can be very difficult given how much viewers try to avoid ad messages and how ingrained commercial messaging is in these spaces, as opposed to public art or commentary) viewers can begin the process of thinking about advertising in public spaces as a concept. We are all so aware of culture jamming, political commentary, and the general agenda of trying to undermine commercial messaging that I think it goes in one ear and out the other. Not to mention, even if you receive a culture jammed message loud and clear, you still think heavily about the company behind the errant message. In light of that it seems the only logical response to an over saturation of commercial media is to remove it entirely. To me these pieces do well by talking about the frame and not what was once inside.

T̶V̶Sly TV by Dr. D and Disobedient Films

Head over to Vandalog for the full story and a nice little video

VIA: Vandalog

Dr. D‘s latest project, a collaboration with Disobedient Films, takes his ad busting beyond billboards. Sly TV, a parody of the British satellite TV company Sky (a part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire), is perhaps most visible as a series of wheatpastes in East London. More [HERE]

VLADY Art

I was recently turned on to the work of Vlady, an Italian artist who works over advertising quite often. I like his self reflective works that honor the age of social media we are living in. They have the ability to be both anti advertising work that is not about the advertising message itself, while still retaining a humor and charm of more witty media critique works. 

see more at www.vladyart.com

Highway Billboard Hijacked with Candy Penis-Licking Rubio Photoshops

VIA: Gothamist

Our nation is filled with unsecured LED billboards that are hooked up to the internet and can be configured by anyone to show literally any image. Today, one of those billboards showed a doctored photo of Marco Rubio licking a penis lollipop. More [HERE]

Inside the anti-advertising movement that's recruiting ad agency workers to destroy billboards and replace them with art

Wonderful article on Brandalism and all it's ambitious work in the anti advertising space. Also, I've never seen this Robert Montgomery billboard but it hit even harder than usual so I had to include it. 

VIA: Crestview Bulletin

Brandalism: a movement dedicated to reclaiming the outdoor, visual realm from corporate control. But why outdoor advertising in particular? When buying a magazine, or watching a particular TV channel, the consumer is to some extent consenting to being shown ads. By contrast, in the outdoor space, there's often no choice. More [Here]

New Work from OX in France

PublicAdCampaign readers will know my love of OX. Here is a new one and make sure to check all of his work on his site [HERE]

OX IN SAINT ÉTIENNE

It looks like the amazing Marc Schiller over at Wooster Collective has begun posting again. Marc is a colleague whom I have admired for a long time and who recently suffered from some serious medical issues that I was made aware of through social media. While I didn't feel it was my place to reach out directly...Marc if you are reading this "I wish you the speediest full recovery and I am so happy to see your energy going back into the Wooster Collective. You and Sara's creation of that online venue so many years ago changed the course of public art and renewed the publics interest in our city streets. Thank you and I hope I get to see you around sooner than later." 

VIA: Wooster Collective

French street artist OX creates posters and billboards that impact public spaces in surprising ways. Since 2000, OX has placed about 300 works on billboards across the globe. He covers them with geometric or abstract compositions and mixes the styles of avant-garde movements with the world of commercial images. More [HERE]

Spectre in Dayton Ohio

Spectre sent us this fantastic billboard hit he did on his way to Dayton Ohio. Can't beat a little road tripping.

These Crazy Bastards Have Too Much Fun

I can’t help myself...Who cares? from Epos 257 on Vimeo.

New Mobstr Work in 2015

Mobstr just sent over these two new street pieces and I am of course enjoying them. The above piece in particular intrigues me as I think about the viewer who knows nothing about street art, and less about the ad takeover sub-genre that Mobstr sometimes traverses. Whose voice do they assume Mobstr's text work is speaking in, and who is it speaking to? See more of Mobstr's work [HERE]

The Age of Drone Vandalism Begins With an Epic NYC Tag

While I wouldn't say this is a particularly well achieved culture jam, or ad takeover, Katsu has proven that even those sky high billboards, so entirely off limits, are vulnerable. Excited to see what he is up to next. 

VIA: Wired

IN THE EARLY hours of Wednesday morning, the age of robotic graffiti was born. KATSU, a well-known graffiti artist and vandal, used a hacked Phantom drone to paint a giant red scribble across Kendall Jenner’s face on one of New York City’s largest and most viewed billboards. By all accounts, it is the first time that a drone has been deployed for a major act of public vandalism. More [HERE]

Mobstr - Graffiti in a frame

Trying to keep this site updated with content has fallen victim to the ease of Instagram posting and the "like" feedback loop that is incredibly satisfying while simultaneously being a drain on my faculties. I've got some new work coming up soon, NOAD is still well worth checking out with new Gif art showing now, and Public Access which will be expanding in the net month after its initial launch. Until then, enjoy this beautiful and honest Mobstr piece.