Billboard Art – Kristen Baumlier

Yesterday the Digital Billboard Art Project went live – a project where artists can submit images to be displayed on a public digital billboard. I have 45 images that are showing startinh yesterday, May 28th, and will run until June 24, 2012 in the Detroit Metro area (Macomb County), MI.

I submitted slides about food – and made a series of images where foods are shown in both abstract and recognizable views, combined with words and slogans often used by advertisers to promote packaged food. A tomato with the word “SAME GREAT TASTE,” a papaya with the words “50% LESS FAT*” and images of rice, soybeans, a peach, and cheese are in the series.

Each of the food featured in the series has an interesting story related to genetic engineering or modern farming practices. I am interested to have the images show in Detroit, a city where it is reported that over half of the residents do not have easy access to nutritious food.

If you live in the Detroit area you can see the billboard in Utica, facing west and can be seen by traffic traveling east bound on Hall Rd (M-59). The billboard can also be seen from a parking lot shared by Muldoon’s Restaurant at 7636 Auburn Road and the Utica Fire and Police Department. My pieces are 7 minutes of the entire 24 hour loop – and will be seen at : 1:09 AM, 3:29 AM, 5:49 AM, 8:09 AM, 10:29 AM, 12:49 PM, 3:09 PM, 5:29 PM. 7:49 PM, 10:09 PM.

The Billboard Art Project is a project that acquires digital billboards normally used for advertising and repurposes them as roadside galleries – showing images from artists. Types of work that may be displayed include images created specifically for the billboard as well as images of previously made art adapted to the format. No two Billboard Art Project shows are alike; each city features new work.

This year upcoming shows include other locations such as Richmond, VA; Salem, OR; Albany, NY, and Atlanta, GA. The Detroit show is unique in that the images will be up in a month. Documentation of the billboard is not up yet – I will post when the roadside photos of the Billboard Art project are posted in Flickr.

Links:

billboardartproject.org/cities/detroit.html

Today I have work in the Digital Billboard Art Project – on a billboard in San Bernardino, CA. The work started at midnight – and goes until today 11:59 pm (24 hours.)

To participate, you send in an application, and formatted files that are then arranged in a cue to play on the digital billboard. I submitted slides about energy and resources – and used poems, wordplay, and lyrics from some of my past songs and projects. I am excited for words like – GOING FAST, GONNA LAST?, MY FUEL MY FIRE, ALL OIL DESIRE, etc. to be put near the highway.

There is a schedule that says what time each artists work will be shown – and my pieces run for 4 minutes within the schedule. The billboard is located off I-15 southbound before the E Ontario Ave exit. The actual billboard is next to the Spring Hill Suites Corona-Riverside hotel.

The project was started by David Morrison, who got interested in this venue when seeing test images on a new billboard being played in 2005. He writes, “ Advertising is so epidemic and pervasive that people pay good money for clothes so that they can advertise corporate entities like Polo, Tommy Hilfiger, and their favorite sports team… So, when you see a billboard that isn’t telling you what to buy or who to trust, it carries the impact of the unexpected.”

In 2010, he acquired 24 hours of time from Lamar Advertising in October 2010. The billboard time was purchased and a date set. When he was discussing the project with a friend, he immediately asked to participate, and soon a call for artists was sent out through email. At this first project, the Richmond Virginia Art project had over 30 participants with images that ranged from being serious to comical.

This year there have been shows setup across the country including Duluth, Chicago, Reading, New Orleans, Baton Rouge and San Bernardino.

If you are in San Bernadino driving on I-15 southbound – look for a billboard that looks different – and you have found the show.

Links:

Billboard Art Project

Follow the Billboard Art Project – Live Event on facebook

Billboard Art Project flic kr site

Billboard Art Project YouTube videos