I've been engaged in an interesting online discussion among empty sign enthusiasts. . .we've been theorizing about their ubiquity and their deeper meanings. . . .
(pictured here is an old piece of art that DANIEL OSBORNE gave me. . .I glued it into my notebook (2006?) and added a random caption).
here are some links and ideas:
-DELETE art project, suggested by HERMANN ZSCHIEGNER
-architect TIM NICHOLS' collection of empty sign photos
-HIROSHI SUGIMOTO's theatre photos
-ED RUSCHA!
A FEW IDEAS ABOUT EMPTY SIGNS:
-why we do love these empty signs so much? Why does the absence of information have such an appeal?
Maybe because the empty billboard is a sign reduced to a mere signifier, pointing only to its own existence. A classic ready-made. And our "avantgarde trained minds" really respond to that. Can we ever overcome Duchamp? Should we? (hz)
-empty signage indeed appeals to our inner duchampian aesthetics, but it may also appeal to our secret desire for emptiness/ moments of visual rest in our urban/suburban world, smothered in advertising. (kt)
-those empty signs harken to our endtime fantasies. . .evidence that the machine is falling apart. . . the floating walls are left unmanned. (kt)
-there's also that utopian staple (for some anyway): a symbolic tabula rasa --the iconic empty billboard. a blank space at 48' wide. . .the ultimate chance to start the message over. (kt)
7 comments:
scary trend of 2k9 will be those Blade Runner-style giant digital billboards that look like internet pop up ads that invaded the real world. i oh so can't wait to see the first one of those graffiti'd...
yeah, screens looming over us with screaming smiles and flashing type. . .can't wait.
will the graffiti technology have to advance. . .perhaps spray paint can float off the surface in order to have staying power. . .
ever see the movie: immortel by enki bilal? one of my favorite sci-fi movies. . .anyway in that near future, words can just float in the air.
-kt
screw all that blade runner shit. it will be here soon enough(in ways it already is ..the rest is just decoraton on the electric framework)and it will mow all of us over like fucking digital green cow herder grass. mooo. coax us into a comfortable commerce connected blob we still call society.and have gridkids to birth into and exponentially develop it so fast it gives themselves some sort of wireless whiplash and conceives their own children for them. what we fight for is the grass.the trees. human touch,human voice directly through air to each other. we buy blackberry/i phones/netbooks for our dashboards one blip off the terra firma radar at a time.
we start art blogs.to speak out? rebel? express ourselves? irony at its fucking finest.
if you were gonna utilize empty spaces/billboards...detourn existing er whatever
(what shall....
we use'....
tah fill....
the empty.....
...spaces?)
what wld u say?
for the Longest time,that corner strip intersection at the mill/cemtery that now says CVX..on BOULEVARD...its sign was empty...always wanted to vinyl letter it,but never thought of what to say.
sometimes it seem like theres nothing left TOO say. everything ,even if it has a fist,it falls flat or mediocre or seeming to just be somebody's dumb ass self publicity stunt. nothing ever actually shows its pure purpose is because its actually alarmed and cares. its always a price tag or a party or some sort of networking piss.
am curious about beeps popaganda show,but only sort of. it's a fucking gallery,and so cant be anything else...who is it for? a show with that theme?
why does everything in this city seem teethless,even if it has "good" intentions?
maybe i shld put a picture of bob fuckn marley on a wall with my name & fucking phone number,too.
now thats some fucking graffiti...sheesh..commissioned graffiti..excuse me.."murals"..what-ever...fuck this lame ass city. but only i can say that,its MY CITY. heh.
karen,for the love of ..something.., i seriously think yr prolly the ONLY artist in this city with continued developing vision AND(this is important) balls, at the same time.taking it to the street and by will of beig yrself,by its own honesty flies in the (honey)face of so much- you retain yr sense of purpose,focus..and really throw those thoughts/ideas out there hard as mother fuck.
please continue.
what wld you say to your public with your billboard? with words, i mean..heh..i mean, who do you perceive as your public? is it "the art scene",relative to that only???...or is it all of atlanta..what do "they" need to hear???
art needs to no longer be art in order to do its job. it needs to visit other places and take action..but what? dammit.
what?
thank you ATLanta ARTnews, whoever you are. . .thank you for your intensity.
despite the pain of it, the resistance of mainstream culture to it. . .I live for passionate people. . .always thought that was what it meant to be an artist. that's why I choose it as my identity.
but to answer your question: what would I put on my billboard (well, I do have one up on my house right now see
http://www.ktauches.com/exteriorGALLERY.html>
I'm thinking the best thing to put up on a billboard is a simple emotional image, or nothing at all, just a good solid color.
there's was another really great project I just discover in vienna, 2005 called "DELETE"
see here:
http://www.steinbrener-dempf.com/delete/index.html
anyhow. . .let me know any time you want to make some public art! email me at ktauches@earthlink.net
oopsie. that was me,karen. eggtooth.
and of course i know you have a billboard (with no words) up on yr house! it's an amazing thing.
i tried to specify Use Of Words cuz i know you already have the non-verbal thing goin.but really,now that i look back on it(to what? 60 minutes ago)
i regret that open ended anger venting. i always feel like im onto something that by its very desire is a truth,maybe an undodgeable noble ideal...but im just too fucking stupid and unfocused to ever do anything about it or with it.
or even figure out how to ask the right question. prolly cuz all the variables seem to be ever shifting,but obviously never constructing.mostly cuz its about perception of self..and mine's fucked.
actions are all that matter anyways. and i think mine are becoming more and more intent on showing how fucking pointless efforts of construct are anyways.
it always soldifies as something somebody is gonna try to sell someone.
maybe the most anti-billboard would be one telling you not to buy anything?
oh, yeah. . .that's brilliant.
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