Gelf Magazine has a great interview with notorious billboard artist and culture jammer Ron English. English creates subversive re-stylings of billboards to make viewers question the truth behind such obtrusive advertising (urban spam). He is also an accomplished painter, re appropriating elements of pop culture and classical art to create whole new narratives.
From the interview:
It’s great to be a criminal, right? You’re in pretty good company. It’s hard to explain to your kids, because they think that if you break the law you go to jail and you’re a criminal. But if you take out a history book, a lot of the people on the forefronts of social movements were considered criminals. We’re just ahead of the curve. Maybe the bad guy is the one who owns and puts up all the billboards all over the neighborhood, selling people malt liquor and cigarettes.
English, along with Alan Abel and Steve Lambert will be speaking at the latest Non Motivational Speaker Series. The event starts at 8pm, Thursday April 24th at The Happy Ending Lounge (302 Broome Street).
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its cool what he does. he’s been doing it for a while now. but for him to feel it’s “great to be a criminal” is silly to me. Maybe it’s that i’ve been a graffiti artist since the early 80’s and defacing property for what ever reason you want to give wasn’t labeled as being “GREAT” it was a way of life for most. What Ron English does has meaning and the word “criminal” shouldn’t be used even though it’s not legal. :) ok im bias.
-Tom
April 23rd, 2008 at 10:42 pm