Street Art, The Law, Advertising, The City

I finally had the chance to read Alison Young's Street Art, Public City: Law Crime and the Urban Imagination. Its a wonderfully researched investigation into the legal barriers broken by situational art in public space and how those transgression can envision an alternative city or way of being. For me it pins a lot of the same tactics discussed in Property Outlaws: How Squatters, Pirates, and Protesters Improve the Law of Ownership by Sonia Katyal, on street and graffiti writers, which I have always felt appropriate. For anyone interested in street art and its politics beyond the image, this book is a must read.

Upon speaking to a PhD Student in London, I also found my way to a very interesting paper by Anne M. Cronin entitled "Advertising and the metabolism of the city: urban space, commodity rhythms". This paper is the first I have come across that looks beyond a textual critique of advertising in outdoor space and instead looks at the ways in which it shapes the city and its inhabitants by co-opting the rhythms of public movement. I can't recommend this short paper enough to anyone who is interested in understanding how the very presence of commercial media in public space regardless of the specific messages, can cause a change in our social behavior and link us closer to the cycles of commodity consumption. Download [HERE]

Prada Marfa Saved from Possible Closure as Illegal Advertisement

Glad to hear this gem was not removed for such dubious reasons as "illegal outdoor advertising".

VIA: Hyperallergic

“Prada Marfa” by Elmgreen and Dragset (photo by Marshall Astor/Wikimedia)

The Texas Department of Transportation has withdrawn its charge of illegal advertising against Prada Marfa, arts organization Ballroom Marfa announced in a public statement. A popular roadside attraction in the remote West Texas town of Marfa, the simulated Prada storefront — commissioned by Ballroom Marfa and installed in 2005 by the British artists Elmgreen & Dragset — was threatened by the state of Texas under illegal advertising statutes in September 2013. Link [HERE]

What the Hell is Going On?

The always informed Dennis Hathaway over at Ban Billboard Blight sent me this image asking if I had seen anything similar pop up in NYC recently because he was at a loss to decipher its meaning. Having no answer I did a quick Google search and found this very informative article that doesn't answer the question but dives further down the rabbit hole than I expected to be lead. Enjoy the mystery [HERE]

Illegal Art Gives The City A Place To Talk Back

I just stumbled upon this image created by Illegal Art in 2007. This location is now a single illegal billboard run by NPA City Outdoor.

The big yellow-and-pink words "To Do" that turned up Sunday night on the corner of 6th Street and First Avenue are, interestingly enough, just that: to-do lists. The public-art collective Illegal Art installed some 3,744 three-inch-by-three-inch Post-its on two street-level billboards, and passersby are encouraged to write their own to-do lists on the stickies. (Illegal Art collects the lists and replenishes the Post-its each day.) So what do New Yorkers need to do? "E-mail Vinnie." "Eat gummy bears." "Nap." "Samba." And a lot, apparently, need to "Call my mom." —Matthew Fishbane