'...The struggle for ad placement in public space in China is not unlike a battlefield strewn with casualties after a pitched battle for power. Today one brand wins. The next day, its competitor will replace it with better positioning on public spaces. Every day, new ads go up, and old ones fall down, scattered in pieces, and discarded on the ground under newly erected billboard advertisements.
In my "Posing Threats" work, I've constructed a huge wall, that stands about 14 meters high and 40 meters across, and I fixed over 600 pieces of paper (110x90cm each) on which I wrote in traditional Chinese ink brush style in some instances and in felt tip pen and magic marker in others, a random selection of slogans and phrases from the advertisements that bombard us here every day... Everything is advertised, from items as big as airplanes (BOEING) or as small as vinegar and condoms. On my gigantic wall, I make the fight for advertising as fierce as a struggle for military power, with inevitable casualties on the battlefield. I have also included some of the famous brands that proliferate in China, such as Shell, McDonald's, Durex, Starbuck's, along with a few of the anecdotes behind them and the misunderstandings that arise in translating these for a foreign audience. Altogether, I've used around 3000 varieties of products and services on my wall to show off the allure of this mass advertising campaign that surrounds us.
link thanks conscientious joerg
~Monumental. It's quaint to see how people new to freedom react to the unstoppable flow of market-driven information. i.e. advertising.
Posted by Cieciel at February 16, 2005 11:58 PM