After we finished up with the daytime install of the Pattison Pillars, some of the volunteers remained behind to begin the prep for the nighttime mission- Illegal Billboards! (We had cool names; the daytime mission was called Ground Team, and the nighttime mission was called Sky Team.)

Above are most of the billboards that the team I was with hit (We did an additional three other billboards). I was rolling with Jordan, Sean, a film crew, (now into their third year of preparing a full-length documentary on public art and advertising- I’m sure I’ll keep you up to date with that…) and Liliana Velásquez, who did an amazing performance as the “Goddess of Transformation” on a large billboard that we whitewashed for her. Her performance was, hands down, the best performance art that I have ever been witness to. It was the moment, the night, the unique, unreproducible specialness of it all, but it was also such a great use of the billboard as a structure. Most ad takeovers only treat the advertising structure as the advertisers do- a place to mount 2D work. Here the whole thing was used and transformed as a stage- the wasteful billboard spotlight became a theater footlight, the platform for installing work became a thin stage, and the billboard, once whitewashed, became the backdrop where anything could happen. Once the billboard was transformed into a stage, you could really see, as if seeing a billboard for the first time, how goddamn huge they are. I mean, it’s an Ad. And it’s big enough to easily stage a performance on. And they are everywhere. That’s kinda crazy, right? It reminded me of the person who sewed a wearable car suit and walked around in it through crowded public places to remind people of just how big and selfish a cars space needs are- especially in a city- whether parked or driving… anyone recall the name of that artist?

Anyway, here’s a video that captures a little of the magic:

…and you can see some of the Billboards done by the other team here!