Public Art / Group show – From October 22  to November 18, 2011.
Four weeks of art interspersed among advertising.
Pontchartrain Expressway, east bound, just after South Claiborne Avenue.

I created the short series “Warning signs” especially for the Billboard Art Project show in New Orleans. The series echoes the recent history of the town: the aftermath of Katrina’s hurricane which occurred August 29, 2005. It also directly refers to the Occupy movement, which protests against social and economic inequality and the role of the banking sector on government policies.

I was not there, the photos were taken by the Billboard Art Project. In this case, the way the photos were taken puts an emphasis on the barb-wired fence which enhances the meaning of the images on the billboards and I like it. This show was one where the images the artists sent were interspersed with advertising (and not shown as series). I would have like to see how it looks like!

The Billboard Art Project is a nonprofit organization that acquires digital billboards normally used for advertising and re-purposes them as roadside galleries. Projects are held in cities all over the country and are open to all individuals and groups who are interested in participating.

The Billboard Art Project
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Hanging out next to the billboard

The Billboard Art Project in Corona went very well! It was really interesting to see the slideshow on the LED billboard showing the images of the 95 participating artists. Each image was up for 10 seconds, some artists chose to double or triple that time.

In Corona, when I arrived the Thursday night after a 7 hours drive from the SF Bay Area (and lots of Santa Ana winds!), I was happy to see Lori Lipsman, who was coming from San Diego. We had the pleasure to meet David Morrison and Claire Accardo, from Richmond, creators and Directors of the BAP project and with a group of artists who came to see the show.

From the series “Signs” – the view on the 15 from the hotel

When we woke up the show was on. The hotel was just next to the billboard where the images were projected. We had a very good view from the 4th floor of the hotel.

From the series “Signs” – the “abstract view”

From the ground, we could see the billboard and the sky behind, which for the work I am doing for the BAP is not very interesting. The view from the 4th floor was perfect, offering a perspective on the busy hwy15.

But it was not obvious to take pictures of the billboard: in the morning the sun was right behind it, then it was sideways. The best shots were taken at the end of the day, which is very short. Night was around 5:00pm and then the images are extremely contrasted between the billboard bright surface and the pitch black background. I’ve got nice cars’ red lights with a slow speed.

Coming back and looking at my photos, I discovered that lots of them had nasty lines on them, my camera may not have liked the LED technology by day!

Journalist Steven Cuervas from KPCC radio came the Friday morning to interview the BAP and I’ve got the chance to talk a little about my series “Miles to”.

Drove back to the Bay area the Saturday morning, with much less wind, an empty road and beautiful sights of the golden mountains.

Group show / Public Art
October 22, 2011

“Miles to” is part of the series of road signs I am developing through different show with The Billboard Art Project.

“Miles To” (Reading, PA) is a series of faux road signs giving drivers the exact distance from Corona, CA, to various cities of political importance in the Middle East and Africa (Afghanistan, Iraq, Israel, Lebanon, West Bank, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Ethiopia, Sudan, Pakistan, Nigeria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Syria). In the midst of the Arab Spring, my intention with the road sign look-alike is to use familiar navigation aids to give people more concrete information about the geo-political world in which we live. An occasion to intertwine poetry and politics.

The Billboard Art Project
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