Let's Celebrate: An Exhibition, A Book, and More

And you thought Art in Ad Places was over! We still have a few surprises left.

On January 26th, find us at LUCAS LUCAS in Williamsburg for an Art in Ad Places exhibition, and the launch of a book celebrating all of our ad takeovers to date. We'll have photos from Luna Park, books, a special installation with the help of fellow ad takeover activist Jordan Seiler, and drinks from Ilegal Mezcal.

We open at 7pm. See you there.

And if you can't make it to the opening, the show will be open through February 3rd.

The End, or a Next Step?

Artwork by Faust. Photo by Luna Park.

Surprise! We've got one special bonus installation left before the new year. We cannot think of a message we'd rather be ending on than this piece by Faust, based on an Oscar Wilde quote.

Faust said, "Although this work represents the end of the Art in Ad Places campaign, I wanted share a message of resilience and optimism for the future."

Resilience and optimism. That's really the note to go out on. This is the end of a campaign, but not the end of our work. We don't know what 2018 will look like. We don't know what outdoor advertising is going to look like, or how we can disrupt it given the shift towards digital displays. So we’re going to take a breather and rest for a moment on this high note, because 2017 was a bit of a marathon. No more weekly updates.

The future is a chance for Art in Ad Places to evolve and take a more thoughtful approach. Maybe we’ll try out some bus shelters, or we’ll start reaching out to poets and scientists and game designers and neighbors to see what they want to put in place of ads. Maybe we’ll finally run a few workshops to train a new generation of ad takeover activists. If you have ideas, we’re all ears.

Faust's work marks the end of a campaign, but things are not yet fine. There's more to be done. And besides, fucking with the advertisers feels too damn good.

Keep Your Eyes Open

Jealous Lover 1 by Heather Benjamin. Photo by Luna Park.

Well, here it is: ad takeover #52 of 52 comes from Heather Benjamin. We have a few more surprises coming your way soon, but we made it to the end of the year. Art in Ad Places started as a daydream, and it's ended up taking over our lives for a little while (in a good way). The marathon is over, which is a nice feeling, but we'll have more news soon on where we go from here.

One last time, here's what this week's artist, Heather Benjamin, has to say about the importance of public art, and how we move through the world:

“I think it’s easy to experience a sort of tunnel vision when you’re running around in the city, it can be a kind of natural response to all the over-stimulation. But that can cause you to miss things going on around you that could be fresh opportunities for critical thinking or raw emotional reactions. Those could be moments where you might begin to think about something in a different way, or feel inspired, and at a basic level have a visual experience really resonate with you in some way. Public art is one of those things that can jolt you right out of your comfort zone and turn everything upside down for a few minutes, while you try take in and wrestle with something you weren’t expecting to see. And I think having that experience on a regular basis is an important part of feeling connected to the humans around you and their lives and emotions and experiences, how you can relate to them. That’s why I’m psyched on the Art in Ad Places project and excited to be a part of it, it’s actively creating spaces in the city for those moments to happen. We need more of those opportunities and less visual stimuli that are just meant to force us into more consumerism.”

Jealous Lover 1 by Heather Benjamin. Photo by Luna Park.

Just a Daydream

Artwork by Louise Chen aka Ouizi. Photo by Luna Park.

Wish we had a before photo of this week's installation. Few pieces this year have been more of an extreme change from a harmful ad to the gift of art. To install Louise Chen aka Ouizi's flowers, we removed an ad for teeth straightening. Because apparently we all need fancy cosmetic surgery now... Screw that.

Ouizi says, "Rather than stopping to smell a flower, would you prefer to peer into it's soul? One of the reasons I make my art public is that it seems to give people a sense of pride and security in their surroundings. This project in particular does this by making an extra-ordinary space feel extraordinary."

Hopefully she's right. At least for a few days, that space is something a bit extraordinary. It doesn't harm, and it's even something to enjoy. But it's only the briefest manifestation of a daydream, unless we all push for something like it to be permanent. Our intervention will be removed in a couple of days. Soon enough after that, the phone booth will be torn out and replaced by a digital ad display, something we can't hack into or disrupt.

But for a fleeting moment, please enjoy something beautiful.

Artwork by Louise Chen aka Ouizi. Photo by Luna Park.

What You Practice Grows Stronger

Artwork by Tenderloin Television. Photo by Luna Park.

Tenderloin Television (aka Benjamin Clarke) gets to the heart of it this week with his poster declaring "What you practice grows stronger." Surround yourself with negativity, and you'll probably be a pretty negative person. Surround yourself with messages about buying more stuff, and you'll probably buy more stuff. Buy more stuff, and you'll probably continue to buy more stuff. Or, surround yourself with positive messages and practice positive behaviors, and it'll be easier to continue down the path of positivity. So why do we fill our public spaces with empty messages, encouraging us to be empty people? Let's practice something different.

Tenderloin Television tells us, "I'm participating because advertising undermines our sense of human purpose. Preying on physical desires at the expense of public welfare, in pursuit of financial gain. It's fear based consumer culture with an absence of a deeper meaning of life. As a firm believer of PMA, I wanted to show an alternative to capitalist plastic identity by leaving the viewer with an authentic feeling. An encouraging catalyst for introspection, reflection and inspiration...peace of mind."

That sounds better.

Artwork by Tenderloin Television. Photo by Luna Park.