Globally, there are probably about two dozen major groups dedicated to forms of anti-advertising activism, whether that’s removing ads or putting up art or fiercely lobbying local politicians. Add to that another one or two dozen artists who made ad takeovers a core part of their work. And while we mostly all operate separately, the truth is: a lot of us know each other, we’re friends.

Over the last five years, we’ve gotten assistance and advice from many folks in that global anti-advertising activism network. However, with one or two exceptions, we haven’t done much public collaboration with our counterparts and advisors. As we move towards closing the book on Art in Ad Places (as payphones across New York City are fewer and fewer), we thought it would be a nice moment to acknowledge a few of those inspirations/friends/collaborators/advisors more publicly. How? The only way we know how: Installing their work.

And so today we have Vermibus, whose work distorting fashion advertisements is a reminder that the aesthetics advertising can be turned against the industry. Without adding any text or humor like many examples of détournement, Vermibus still manages to distort and rework high fashion ads into stark self-critiques. Additionally, Vermibus founded the fantastic NO-AD Day project, where ads are simply removed and our eyeballs are given a bit of a reprieve from advertising’s onslaught.

Rather than a typical artist statement, Vermibus referred us to a poem: Ithaka by C.P. Cavafy. It starts:

As you set out for Ithaka
hope your road is a long one,
full of adventure, full of discovery.

The whole piece is well worth reading. Though it certainly wasn’t written as such, it is as good a reflection as any that we’ve read on the ups and downs of activism.