Phonebooth Art by Jordan Seiler

Another phonebooth install by Jordan Seiler. This kid does not quit. Love it.

The book pages in this make it look like such a nice piece. You may click on each image to enlarge.

NYSAT WEBSITE LAUNCH : THE HOLY GRAIL OF NYC AD TAKEOVER

Our good friends at Public Ad Campaign have worked very hard (twice) to pull of the New York Street Ad Takeover (NYSAT). The NYSAT was a great project that helped replace illegal advertising in the city of NY with art by local (and even some none local) artists. Even a few Abztract featured artists took part in the event.

Well, apparently the folks at PAC have been working even harder and taking all the photos, videos and info and putting it together for a micro site for all to enjoy (and learn a bit about the illegal advertising that goes on in NYC by NPA. who by the way may also be operating illegally in your town as well).

Check it out. There is a lot of videos, images and even the Project Documentation tab has all the locations listed as links to each illegal ad that was placed, how it was whitewashed, and then how it was replaced with art.

For those who do not know what NYSAT is, please take the time to check this site out. It was a fantastic project for us to be part of and we hope that (if/when) it happens again, you can join us.

Link: http://www.publicadcampaign.com/nysat/

Blood Sport: Jordan Seiler "Best Seller" Round II

In the battle between NYC Advertising and Public Ad Campaign, we consider the score to be 0 - 1 after the last phonebooth kiosk installs that artist and activist Jordan Seiler done with his first hit of National Bestseller series.

Well, looks like Mr. Seiler has hit them again. Making the score 0 - 2. There is seriously no stopping this kid. The fact that this piece in particular is even more red and bloody only reiterates how hard he hits these advertisements and how he brings attention to the public about their space and how much it is highjacked with advertising.

From the Public Ad Campaign website, Jordan writes:

National Bestseller is an ongoing project in collaboration with the outdoor advertising companies operating NYC phone kiosks, including VanWagner, and Titan Media. This recent image was put up on Broadway between Boerum and Union avenue in Brooklyn. Each piece is made up of one entire booked striped of its spine and pasted back together. Every 10th piece gets a treatment in red. Often attacking illegal advertiement in NYC, this project confronts legal ads on the street in an effort to express my interest in an advertisement free public space.

Update: It was brought to our attention that this actually a third install. Nice to know that the score is even bigger. Awesome stuff indeed.

From Around The World: The Treehouse

Wow. Just wow. This gorgeous thing took 9 guys, 350 cans and 7 days of work.






VIA Wooster

Around The World: CHASE

LA Artist Chase has been busy. We had the pleasure of meeting Chase a while back for a very brief moment and he is taking walls across the world by storm. Check out some fresh stuff gathered around the world.

You can click on the images to view a larger size.

Belgium; a collaboration with Remed, Resto & Bue. The text is “Sommige Harten Kloppen Op’t Straat” (“Some Hearts Beat on the Street”)

Great wide angle photo by Kriebel of the “Remember Who You Are” collabo piece with Bue in Gent, Belgium.

Prague, Czech Republic - 'Remember who you are'

Centre Pompidou, Paris - 'Awareness Geezers'

El Born, Barcelona - 'Remember who you are'

Around The World: Sean Martindale and Eric Cheung Poster Plant

We came across this via Wooster Collective and couldn't resist reposting it here on BGB.
Toronto artists Sean Martindale and Eric Cheung have been putting on a project that ads a bit of green to the neighborhood by cutting up advertisement posters. To read the full story, you can check out Torontoist

VIA Wooster Photos VIA Torontoist

From Around The World: Alexandros Vasmoulakis

This beautiful mural in Athens was done by Alexandros Vasmoulakis. Really digging the color and the beauty of this piece. Truly amazing.

Alexandros has a solo show in 2010 at LeBasse Projects. VIA AM

D*Face-d

D*Face is one of our favorites here at BGB. Seems like anything the guy produces is extremely fresh. It came as no surprise then when we saw photos on his site of a new mural he did for Pisa Town Council out in Italy named "Heavens Above". The piece was a tribute to Keith Haring who also did a piece in the city in the late 80's.

The D*Face piece is truly something that deserves to be up for the next 20 years too.

Public Art is the Frisco way

Photo by Louis DeLuca

When a community joins together for the sake of art, we have to give it props. We came across this article in the Dallas News. Frisco, a small city in Texas has been taking charge in opening its doors to public art. Actually, they encourage it.

Too many towns "are becoming homogenized – same stores, same restaurants, same street names even, as other towns," said Katherine Wagner, chief executive officer of North Texas Business for Culture and the Arts and a member of the public art committee for Dallas. "Art can give us something to be proud of that is uniquely ours, and which we can build around."

Frisco has been installing art into their town for a while now. The city even requires every municipal project to set aside money for art to be installed. From installing art at their local Pizza Hut to a terrazzo floor at the Fire Station, Frisco has been able to show that a city can flourish with art rather than succumb to Billboard advertisements and the cookie-cutter streets that you find across America. They are even building a curriculum around the collections.

We give props to the city of Frisco, TX and encourage other towns to follow. Its when a city stands up and recognizes that public advertisement (legal or not) is an eye sore, and that public art (legal or not) can be something to enjoy, teach and talk about, that is when the value of artists and their hard work will truly be understood.

Check out the full article here: In Frisco, There's Art To Be Found