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Thanks so much to the Czech magazine/blog Creative Life for publishing this article about my ad takeovers!

Here’s the english translation:

Caroline Caldwell is devoted to street art in an unusual way - she uses advertisements and hoardings that with their help bring passers-by to think, or at least improve their day. She started with that in high school about the time when she was fired from hours of art. (Caroline translation edit: I was kicked out of the AP art class.)

"Advertisement takeovers are really easy. Everyone should do this. Depending on the type of ad, all you need is a bucket of paint, or cheap craft paper and wallpaper glue so you can prepare the work at home then glue it up quickly. Some of the ones I’ve done have been as simple as just turning the advertisement about-face, and writing a message on the back then putting it back up. Then document your work and share it.

The goal with my ad busts was to suggest an alternative path to happiness/fulfillment than those suggested by the advertisements I was replacing. Public space is shared by everyone, so it seems unfair that only a few rich corporations are allowed to dictate how our shared visual space looks, and the messages that we’re exposed to on a daily basis. Advertisements claim that we can improve ourselves and our experiences by buying of the promted product/service/experience. They suggest that if you change the externalities of your life (your appearance, your house, your car, your travel experiences, etc.) then it will improve your inner self. The types of messages we’re exposed to on a daily basis reduce the complex human experience to that of mere consumerism; a reward system where a manufactured need for self-improvement is based on spending money. It is a challenging to unlearn the buyer’s high, but I think it’s just a matter of realizing that fulfillment is based on a state of mind.

Not all ads are bad - some are helpful and informative. But the invasive nature of advertisements suggests that people are subordinate to corporations and have no control over public space. It’s important to feel like your presence matters in your environment. Jordan Seiler of Public Ad Campaign has created a lot of great projects and has written very eloquently on the subject of replacing advertisements with art."

#caroline caldwell #ad busts #ad takeovers #ad disruption #culture jamming