ART INSTEAD OF ADS AGAIN IN NY!!!

Eldridge and Broome


Christie and Broome




Broome and Christie



It took about three months of careful preparation, but this time art didn't win as easily as the last time. Five people arrested and an extremely brief life for most of the pieces of art that went up on New York streets it's the balance of today's NYSAT action. About a 100 artists and activists were involved in the second New York Street Advertising Takeover, a pacific, smart, creative and uplifting initiative organized by Public Ad Campaign. Under its umbrella operates a very brave group of citizens that are tired to see their city decorated only with ads.

I reported about them back in April, when artists were able to replace about forty ad billboards with their own creative projects for a whole day. They didn't choose billboards casually, they only attacked those belonging to NPA, a company that according to Public Ad Campaign doesn't pay the city a dime to have their ads up. NPA only pays building owners. Then, why should we endure the visual attack of those ads if our city doesn't even get any money in exchange? Art should be on those billboards instead! Why not?

That thought brought NYSAT back to the streets today but, according to Jordan Seiler, one of the brains behind the project, "police and NPA found out about it very early on so they were very aggressive towards us, they arrested five artists and they were really fast at covering the billboards with ads again". By 3 pm I saw an employee of NPA covering one of the white washed billboards with new ads on Mulberry st... This time, though, Seiler is ready to suit the NPA and even the city because "the way they operate is not legal and now we know who they are". All the artists arrested will plead not guilty in court tomorrow.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to follow the project all day long like I did last time but my good friend Xavi did and we will have more pictures later on. I'm sure the Public Ad Campaign web and the wooster collective will have some pictures too. I'm also editing a short video.

WHILE YOU WEREN'T WATCHING

A 'coup' of guerrilla-style street art. That's what happened in New York last Saturday while you weren't watching. I spent the day shooting the New York Street Advertising Takeover, talking to artists and enjoying a moment that, as any great moment, it didn't last but it won't be forgotten. This is my visual chronicle of the event. (con subtitulos en español) More info and pictures in previous posts. Lots of pictures here.



If you link this video, please make sure you link also this blog. Thank you!!

THE NYSAT VIDEO IT'S ON ITS WAY

Sorry, I had some technical problems with the video about the 'New York Street Advertising Takeover' (NYSAT) but it will be finally up THIS EVENING!! In the meantime some more details to feed the curiosity of those who still can't believe this could happen in Bloomberg's aseptic Manhattan:

This is the fake note they stuck on each billboard they whitewashed, phone numbers and people's names are real, everything else it's made up -but maybe it should be real...-. Artists and volunteers wearing city construction vests painted the billboards, put up the note and gave these new canvases to artists to enjoy. Ephemeral art, since Apple ads took over again the billboards less than 24 hours later... But those new yorkers who witnessed the action won't easily forget it! See picks and read the whole story in my last post.

(I have been said that, apparently, I broke the story. Thanks to everybody for linking this blog to theirs, now you are making me write in English! -pero seguirá habiendo también español-)