Street Art Used To Be the Voice of the People. Now It’s the Voice of Advertisers.

We know this story but Christine wrote a nice addition to the growing number of articles on the topic.

VIA: In These Times

Los Angeles, a city once known as the mural capital of the world, issued a citywide mural moratorium in 2002 to crack down on the growing issue of outdoor advertising passing as street art. The ban remained in place until a 2013 ordinance overturned it and set down strict new rules prohibiting commercial messages in street murals. More [HERE]

No Free Walls Documentary

A few months ago I was given the chance to comment on the visual gentrification that has been transforming Bushwick for some years for a documentary called No Free Walls that just came out. In addition to the on camera interview, I did a little phone conversation a few days ago for the Complex website. Take a look below. 

Watch the full documentary [HERE] Read the whole interview [HERE]

The Art Conference #01

I just got back from London where Tina Ziegler held the first TAC (The Art Conference) in a beautiful old factory venue called the Ugly Duck. I was asked to open two days of pretty intense talks about Art, Technology, and social engagement. I took the task seriously and used my work to show how advertising, as one of the sub genre's of cultural production systems, undermines social progress by monopolizing the systems of dissemination, prohibiting access and participation, economically driving technological determinism, and framing our cultural values in frighteningly self serving ways. It all went pretty well despite not having a podium to put my papers on. Given the chance to do it again I plan to do a little more memorization, and to attempt to go beyond advertising to Art itself, which has its own way of slowing social progress in ways which are similar to advertising itself. 

Notable speakers from the conference were RJ Rushmore who's talk From Dissidence to Decorative derided projects like Urban Nation as decorative city wallpaper intent on raising property value more than providing any of the real radical politics once prescribed to street art. As a nice opposition to that, Teresa Latuszewska spoke about the Urban Forms mural project in Lodz Poland which is a sanctioned mural project but one that works hard to reach out to the community and integrate itself deep into the skin of the city. They have also done some pretty boring and thankless work gathering hard statistics on peoples feelings towards the individual murals and the culture in general. Mia Grundahl spoke about Women on Walls which I knew little about and which practically brought me to tears. To say that these projects proved RJ's point would be an understatement. 

Similarly heartbreaking and inspirational was the work of Robert Montgomery whose texts can often be found on the street where advertising once broadcast its messages loudly. Robert has taken over billboards illegally, but he has also worked directly with the OOH companies to place his work. At first I was upset that he would collaborate with the enemy, but after speaking with him and hearing him talk, I realized that my radical politics was less important to him than ensuring there was an alternative voice to the aggressive commercial megaphone we are often confronted with on a daily basis. His writing, a sort of haunting conversation with the city and capitalism, draws a beautiful contrast that works to undermine consumerist propaganda. While I surely like his illegal pieces better, I cannot say that the sanctioned pieces are less effective to someone who doesn't know the politics behind anti ad activity. And finally Dan Witz took me on a nostalgic trip back to his earliest work that began in 1978 a year before I was born. That guy has been doing groundbreaking street art before the term was coined, hell even before graf made its mark. A true pioneer. 

All in all it was a fantastic event and I look forward to the next. If you have an opportunity to visit one yourself, I highly suggest taking the time. 

A quick installation on Commercial street, London

 The incredible force behind TAC01 Tina Ziegler

 The crowd at the first TAC

 Talking to Dan Witz about staying the course and privilege

Robert Montgomery

Speaking about how advertising undermines social progress

Speaking about how advertising undermines social progress

In Bushwick, Street Art Comes with a Copious Side of Advertising Billboards

Everyone asked for comment in this article, including myself have something interesting to say. On a compete side note, I wish writers would let you know that they may quote entire sections of your emails verbatim. I always assume they will integrate your ideas into a story and so often whatever grammatically deficient gibberish i spew out in an email on the plane home from Germany ends up as a quote. :)

VIA: Hyperallerigic

A Bushwick Collective mural by Joe Iurato at Troutman Street and St Nicholas Avenue with a large Coors billboard in the background. (photo by Joe Iurato, courtesy the artist)

The latest additions to the Bushwick Collective, the street art project founded and curated by Joe Ficalora around the intersection of Troutman Street and St Nicholas Avenue in Brooklyn, are a number of big, garish billboards. Since artists began transforming warehouse walls in the area with large-scale murals three years ago, there has been remarkably little infringement by the type of advertisements and hand-painted billboards that have overtaken many popular street art spots in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. But in recent weeks, as Bushwick Daily has pointed out, advertisements have begun appearing on the Bushwick Collective blocks, some of them installed directly atop existing murals. More [HERE]

Prince Media Keeps Illegal Sign Locations Visible With Art, Until They Don't.

Mark Samosonovich has some great new images up in Manhattan, (above) and Brooklyn, that will lighten your day and make you think at the same time. They are the kind of selfless public art that one wants to see everywhere. In fact there isn't even a name to distinguish who the artwork is by, and its this anonymity which makes these works a pleasure to take in. That said, all of these artworks went up at the same time, in places where Prince Media once ran advertising. The coincidence seemed worth looking into because I didn't know too much about this particular "boutique" billboard company, and hey..that's what we do. 

In the past I have come to find that behind many, if not all "donations" of outdoor advertising space to artists and thier work, is a self motivated billboard company getting more from the deal than thier altruism would like to reveal. Tax deductions, percent for arts programs, and simple lack of business, can all motivate an outdoor ad company to "give" some of thier space to the arts. In fact a lack of commercial clientele is often a motivator for art in public spaces as companies attempt to keep thier stock lively and with content, when business slows down. None of these reasons make outdoor advertising companies look particularly kind, but aren't all that outwardly devious either. 

In New York, I have found one other far more insidious reason that art finds its way onto outdoor advertising infrastructure, and that, I believe, is exemplified by Prince Media's recent donation of space for Mark Samosonovich. Often, advertising companies will put up signs without obtaining the proper permits from the city of NYC Department of Buildings. They will operate these illegal signs until the highly understaffed DOB finds thier offending signage and begins to levy fines against the company. This can take months, if not years, all the while said company is making money from the illegal sign. It just so happens that all 3 of the locations Prince Media offered for Mark's work were facing DOB sign violations, the most egregious of which can be seen [HERE]

Once a sign is found and a violation has been placed on the building to which the sign is attached, things become a little more serious and continuing to run commercial copy can be a bad idea for business. It is at this point that many outdoor advertising companies, and I believe in this case, Prince Media, offers the space to an artist. Art, not needing a permit, does not accrue more violations, allowing the sign to remain "active" while the company resolves the violation and any fines associated with it. Once a resolution is complete, its back to business as usual, and no more art. What in the beginning looked like a neighborly gesture, turns out to be a self interested ploy to keep potential clients aware of advertising infrastructure while violations and illegal activities are negotiated in court, tying up tax dollars and the DOB legal team. 

It is this type of false altruism that I continue to see practiced by the outdoor advertising industry that fuels my belief that monetizing our public walls is inherently problematic for a city. Leaving companies, whose intention is to make money from public eyes in public space, in charge of who gets access to our shared walls, does not work. The motivations are simply misaligned with the public's interests. 

Mark Samosonovich

Mark Samosonovich

Without Advertising, the Walls Are Ours Again.

I have always thought that advertising, with its interest in monopolizing public dialogue, and thus its tendency to monopolize public spaces, prevented our city from a proliferation of locally derived artworks. After Contest Promotions' (formerly NPA Outdoor) license to operate was revoked in NYC, hundreds of street level advertising signs were removed. The photo above is just one example of artwork filling the hole left after advertising disappears, and proof of what I think is advertisings role in the degradation of the shared common experience of our public spaces.

This is just one of many examples and I will try to remember to snap more photos on my travels about the city.

PUBLICation from FORM in Perth, WA

PUBLIC was an wonderful arts and mural festival in Perth, WA that I took part in a few months ago. It brought together local and international artists to not only paint murals, but create programming and outreach that asked the public to contribute to a dialogue about how our cities are curated. Looking to make the festival a yearly event, Form created PUBLICation to speak to some of the issues address by the project, and gain some unique insight into the artists and thier processes. I was happy to contribute my thoughts about public space more generally and why a vibrant city street is key to a democratically oriented society. Read the digital version [HERE]

Re+Public in Austin, TX and Perth, WA

Over a month ago we returned from a bit of travel and are only now getting around to posting about it. Apologies for the delayed report but better late than never.

Re+Public digital interactive mural for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

Many PublicAdCampaign readers are familiar with a secondary project we are working on called Re+Public. Its a collaboration 3 years in the making with our friends over at The Heavy Projects. You can visit our website [HERE] but long story short it is an investigation into Augmented Reality as a tool for public space media creation, and curation.

At a point in the not too distant future, many of us will be wearing smart glasses and other forms of heads up displays. These wearable smart phones will allow a level of digital overlay onto our daily lives that will have drastic effects on the way we experience public space. While there are arguments for and against this technology, heads up displays will be ubiquitous wether you like it or not. The upside, and reason for our initial interest in AR, is that you may one day be able to digitally opt out of outdoor advertising signage by simply running a digital ad blocking app.

With this core interest in mind, we began exploring AR's capabilities several years ago by helping other artists create digital interactive components to thier physical 2d murals. This was a way for us to familiarize ourselves with the unique capabilities of AR, its ability to integrate into the 3d environment, use interactivity and data collection to engage the user, turn static imagery into time based narrative media, and leap into the past through historical digital overlays.

Recently we were asked to take those skills and apply them to two murals of our own design in Austin Texas, and Perth, Western Australia. While these explorations do not constitute anti-advertising work, nor do they challenge ideas about who has access to our shared media environment, they are part of a process of investigation which will bring this technology to bear on those core PublicAdCampaign interests. We hope to bring you news of new AR anti-advertising initiatives soon. Until then enjoy the pretty pictures. We had a blast!


The PUBLIC festival in Perth was run by Form and it looks like it will be an ongoing yearly event considering the fantastic response from local residents. Form essentially invited 50 Australian and international street artists and muralists, to paint downtown Perth over the course of 2 weeks. Satellite projects in the Pilabra, with inner city youth, as well as parties and gallery exhibitions rounded out a packed program that got the city talking about art and culture's role in developing a healthy vibrant city of the future. It was exciting to see new digital media creeping into what would normally be more traditional mural arts programming. We can't thank Form enough for having the vision and gumption to invite the Re+Public team.

 Re+Public digital interactive mural for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

 Re+Public digital interactive bus shelter for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

 Re+Public digital interactive bus shelter for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

Re+Public digital interactive mural for PUBLIC festival - Perth, WA

This year we were also invited to SXSW interactive to do a enormous wheat pasted mural measuring 84'x34'. This was our first real foray into mural making at this scale and we were excited that we got the thing on the wall, let alone that the locals seemed to like it. A big thanks to the IEEE, and Qualcomm for helping to offset the cost of this murals production. 

Re+Public digital interactive mural for SXSW Interactive - Austin, TX

Expect a new Re+Public mural in NYC come mid September. Until then we will keep you posted about less frivolous endeavors with Augmented Reality as soon as we can. 

Nychos Sidebust is Typical Parasitic Outdoor Advertising Behavior

Alex Emmart of Mighty Tanaka Gallery recently sent me this image. His outrage at the parasitic nature of the advertising placement is completely understandable. Nychos, painted the beautiful mural a while back and after attracting crowds of loyal fans and public citizens eager to get a look at the beautiful work, Prince Media decided to get in on the action by placing a large advertisement as close as they could.

While this seems typical of outdoor media behavior, to those unfamiliar with the tactics of the industry, it came as a complete shock. How could a company so brazenly use the mural for its own gain? How could this commercial message be allowed to destroy the unique quality this mural brought to this wall by interrupting the aesthetics and bastardizing the whole visual experience? These are valid questions but ones that don't have an acceptable answer in todays media environment. The advertisement has a permit and is therefore legal. The question we really should be asking is why would we allow commercial media access to any of our public spaces, be it next to amazing works of art or on the random side of a building. In each case the commercial media alters our experience of public space in a negative way and should be rendered obsolete.

Los Angeles moves to lift decade-old ban on public murals

VIA The LA Times

Artists predicted a renaissance of public muraling across Los Angeles as the City Council voted 13-2 Wednesday to lift a decade-long ban on the large outdoor artworks.

"We owe it to our next generation to reclaim our legacy as a mural capital of the world," said Isabel Rojas-Williams, executive director of the Mural Conservancy of Los Angeles.

The action represents a culmination of years of hearings on a new regulatory scheme for murals. It seeks a balance between clashing interests: reviving the city's muralist tradition; protecting neighborhoods from unwanted intrusions of large, sometimes controversial artworks; and controlling a proliferation of advertising in the guise of art. More [HERE]

More Proof that the Public Can Handle Curation of its Public Environment

Never has filed in the blank where Contest Promotions has relinquished control. Its a stark contrast and a favorable one for the public if you ask me. 

Jersey Joe (AKA Rime) for Converse?

Jersey Joe (AKA Rime) finished a mural yesterday on Grand and Union in Brooklyn. I happened to be walking by while he was painting and asked him a few questions about the mural, including how he came upon painting this location as it is the third mural to go up on this corner over the last few months. Rime explained that it was actually Converse that had obtained permission for the mural to be painted. 

Normally I am opposed to commercial companies contracting artists to paint "art" murals as the murals usually end up being glorified advertisements in the end. This morning on my way to the studio I walked by the finished mural and was happily surprised to see that despite Converse contracting Rime to paint this mural, there was almost no branding whatsoever. In fact the only branding I could see was the small Converse star painted on the shoes of one of Rimes characters, a detail i might have missed if I wasnt aggressively looking for branding in the first place.

This mural raises some interesting questions about commercial collaborations between artists in public space. Can a company sponsor artistic endeavors and refrain from burdening the viewer with the type of one way message associated with brand recognition. If so, can those collaborations also prove fruitful for a company as word of mouth and social networks make potential customers aware that they were in fact responsible for the mural or artwork that we are seeing in public space, engendering a stronger brand loyalty through the recognition of their altruism. If so, what might public space look like if advertising in its traditional form was banned but the un-branded sponsoring of art was an acceptable way for companies to engage the public in public space? 

Virtual Murals for Real-Life Buildings

Big thanks to Emily Badger for writing this nicely informed explanation of what we are trying to do with the Re*public Mobil App. 

VIA The Atlantic Cities

If you want to paint a public mural, you will need at least several of these things: money, connections to someone who has money, a building, or permission to use someone else’s. Oh, and lots and lots of paint. For all of these reasons, public art is a lot harder to come by in most cities than its commercial counterpart: billboards, fliers, and advertisements. More [Here]

Poster Giant in Seattle Found Destroying Public Art in thier Battle to Dominate the Visual landscape

In what I can only assume is similar behavior to NPA outdoor in New York, Poster Giant is wreaking Havoc on Seattle's public space and in the process destroying local culture, promoting conspicuous consumption and creating a few enemies. Sign the petition at Change.org to help the community express its outrage [Here] As reported in the local Straphanger, it seems the community is pretty upset. It will be interesting to see if the community can bar Poster Giant from operating as this is the type of control the public should have over how public space is used. I wish them all the luck in their campaign.

Poster Giant power washing their posters off of a mural they covered up after outrage amongst the community forced a quick response.

From the Change.org petition you should sign:

Poster Giant has a long and bad history in Seattle. They routinely destroy the work of D.I.Y. artists, organizations and businesses to further their own agenda of monopolizing public space in Seattle by preventing any posted advertisement (except their own) from being viewed. In the past (and recently), they have threatened community members with violence for even requesting politely that they not destroy their work.

Most recently, Poster Giant destroyed an amazing work of art in Pioneer Square. As expected, they took action only after receiving significant bad publicity, after the destruction was reported in the Seattle P.I., but anyone that knows this company, surely knows that they have used threats of violence and destructive retribution to further their cause of monopolizing our public space. This cannot be tolerated: Poster Giant must stay within the bounds of the law, and must renounce the violence and destructive retribution that they have utilized as their business model.

If Poster Giant refuses to comply, then we must take firm action and rebuke their tactics through a meaningful grassroots campaign to bring awareness of their tactics to those whom count most: Their own clients.
Join me in forcing Poster Giant to play by the rules.

A Case And Point at Kenmare and Bowery SWC

Earlier today I happened to pass by a NYC location I have become quite familiar with. Not long ago it held a large NPA advertisement that has been the target of a few of the public actions I've organized. This billboard came down recently and the wall sat empty for some time. Today I found out that it now holds a mural by an artist unknown to me. The progression of this wall speaks to a point I have made over and over again and that is central to my belief that outdoor advertising has no place in the public environment. I have long argued that not only does outdoor advertising have a negative psychological affect on the public, but it also has the undesired affect of reducing public use of public space by monetizing our cities surfaces and thus silencing those voices which cannot afford to pay for that space. Landlords would be foolish to not capitalize on their properties value and therefor the elimination of outdoor advertising must come with the elimination of any monetary incentives. Regardless, this wall is a microcosm of this idea, which would on a larger scale transform the city from a largely commercially based visual environment, to a public whose walls reflected the creativity and culture of the cities individuals.

Location progression over the last few years:

NPA operated 

  Enjoy Banking unauthorized reappropriation for NYSAT

Mr. Dimaggio unauthorized reappropriation

Empty location after first removal

Current state as of 4-25-12

Oddly enough this is the location where I really became aware that the company that operates these street level billboards was doing so illegally. Late one night I had been drinking in the LES. Heading towards the J train, I saw two workers posting advertisements at this location. I decided to see what they were up to and if they would talk to me. When I approached them they were very nonchalantly going about their job while smoking a joint, their pickup truck awkwardly parked half on, and half off the sidewalk. Around this time I was already under the assumption that not only the flyposting by NPA (now Contest Promotions) but the billboard postings like this one, were illegal. I began by asking about their job, how well they were paid, what the hours were like? etc. They were very forthcoming with me  and answered my questions while going about their bussiness. Feeling loose from the drinks I had had earlier, I decided to see if they would tell me a bit more as we seemed to be getting along quite well. Under the assumption that I was looking to apply for a job, I asked about why they worked at night and whether or not what they were doing was illegal. They seemed to take the question in stride, definitely not surprised by my inquiry. They said that every once in a while they were "hassled" by the cops and that they were taken downtown for illegal posting of signs. They were also quick to tell me that NPA lawyers were always jimmy on the spot with bail and that they received 500 dollars extra for the ordeal. 

Shortly after this conversation we launched NYSAT, several of my friends were arrested, but NPA's illegal use of public space was being rigorously inspected by the Department of Buildings. Not too long after that this sign came down, only to be up again for a short time, and then removed once more. It seemed the city had been able to enforce its laws and that NPA would be forced to shut down its bussiness. Alas this was not the case and NPA has become the fraudulently titled Contest Promotions. The company now operates under a new business model which has converted their inventory of 3rd party signage (commercial offsite advertising) to 1st party signage (onsite advertising for the business or operator at said location) in the eyes of the law. Contest Promotions purports to support local mom and pop businesses but are most often seen on the sides of parking lots and bars. As part of this new legal gymnastics, the company must operate a "contest" at the locations at which they have signage. Some of their old spots, including the one in this post simply do not comply with this new model and have therefore been permanently removed. While I wish the company would have not continued to bombard our streets with images of conspicuous consumption, I am happy that this location has proved a long held belief of mine. The elimination of outdoor advertising from our shared public environment would have a strong positive affect on the psychological environment we share as co-inhabitors of this great city. 

The Convoluted Path to Ending Los Angeles's Mural Ban

When Lister's Planet of the Apes DVD release mural went up I knew it would cause trouble. His international reputation and unique style place him directly at the center of modern urban art practices, a revered artist amongst many. The advertisement he painted has all of his signature mark making and it blurs almost imperceptibly the line between fine art and advertising content. Given the history of self interested litigious activity on the part of outdoor advertising in Los Angeles, it is a perfect example upon which to make claims that art and commerce are one and the same on the streets of our cities. Sadly this is the last thing a city needs that has been fighting for some twenty years to define an artistic mural so that artists can once again take to the streets and glorify LA with their imagery. While it would seem a simple task, the quote below gets at the heart of why LA has been unable to craft a mural ordinance, but also shows the true colors of an advertising world intent on abusing public space despite the cities interest in curbing their activities for the larger social good.

"The big fear from our city attorney's office, due to the past history of litigation, is that whatever kind of mural program we create is going to be perverted and subverted for commercialization and advertising. And that’s what we’re trying to avoid," Blackman says.

The Atlantic Cities Article:

Once regarded as the mural capital of the world, Los Angeles in recent years has lost a good deal of its street art cred. Decades of loose regulation on signs and murals led to some creative law-skirting by outdoor advertising firms, bringing about a string of lawsuits and rule changes – and more lawsuits and more rule changes. The eventual result was an all-out moratorium on new murals.

More [HERE]

Converse Mexico Destroys M-City Community Mural

It appears that Converse Mexico has brought itself some negative attention by buffing an M-City community mural. Below is an open letter to the company giving them the details of their misconduct. If only this wasn't such a regular occurrence.

Dear Converse Mexico, my name is Gonzalo Alvarez and I have a cultural promotion project called MAMUTT ARTE, which focuses mainly on urban art. On Monday January 30, 2012, I stopped by the Colonia 7 de Noviembre a neighborhood, located in the Gustavo A. Madero district, in Mexico City, and noticed something that caught my attention. In that place (which lies largely on the Circuito Interior Avenue) is the community center of Cauce Ciudadano a project that is principally engaged in work with young gang members and youth at risk, who live in areas with high rates of violence. Cauce is a project certified by Ashoka and the Human Rights Commission of Mexico City, with more than 3500 success stories in just 11 years.

Download the Entire PDF [HERE]

Using QR codes to Restore Defaced Murals

News has been slow in the PublicAdCampaign world. I've been diligently working on more gallery pieces and trying to setup some big projects for the year to come. As it looks now the AR world will be an integral part of our workload over the next 6 months so it seemed fitting to start reporting on some interesting AR projects. This project, originally posted on Wooster Collective uses AR and QR codes to virtually restore murals that have been defaced. As AR becomes a more and more integral part of our public experience editing public space in this way will become easier and easier, blurring the lines between the reality that we actually live in and the one we wish to live in.

ART IS NOT A CRIME…END THE MURAL MORATORIUM

Saber, renowned Los Angeles graffiti artist, has taken to the skies in an attempt to remind the city of Los Angeles that the mural moratorium is ruining Los Angeles' reputation as a mural city ripe with the life and culture of its residents. He posted this explanation of his actions on his blog and I thought it interesting to note that part of the reason the moratorium is being so strictly enforced against public art mural production is that the outdoor advertising industry found itself under fire not too long ago. Without permits for many outdoor commercial signs it seemed that part of the industries method of combatting that enforcement was to drag public art into the discussion. Instead of engaging the conversation of what is and isn't protected under free speech, the city of LA bowed to the industries demands in cowardly subservience to those that sponsor campaigns and fight tooth and nail for the right to take advantage of an unsuspecting public.

Lister Covered By Ads, Big Surprise!

First off, I'm sorry. I have been so busy with things I have horribly neglected this site and for this I apologize. I should rename the link monthly.publicadcampaign.com at this point. That said I'm taking off for a Euro art/speaking tour on the 13th and wont be posting for a month so I double apologize. Ill get back on it when I return as I will be in the studio working on gallery stuff for a good few months, promise.

Lister 2011

Lister put up a whole bunch of murals in LA and it seems one was recently covered by illegal ads, probably from Contest Promotions. Melrose and Fairfax has the scoop and everybody is all up in arms about it as if this wasn't the inevitable outcome. We are at war people! Not Street artists but the public at large. Public space is not yours but rather the plaything of a multibillion dollar business we call out of home advertising. It rules your public environment with an iron fist and until you object it will continue to desecrate your most sacred idols and permeate your inner thoughts. Revolt against its use of your shared environment and rise up against its assumed authority over your shared public spaces.

Advertising 2011