The Billboard Liberation Front

A small group of people from the outskirts of Sydney Australia, lead by an newly inspired billboard liberator, has recently formed with the intention to help the public question the use of advertising in public spaces.

The group’s leader, Robert Brown told us of the motivation of the group, free street art. “It is our belief that public art should not be illegal and forced to stay behind gallery doors, but it should be displayed in public spaces and used as a method to encourage people to question the society they reside and it’s morals.”

Discussing recent activity Brown stated that “After several successful postings on a local church billboard questioning their message of heaven or hell. A decision was made that a bigger audience with a larger target was required.”

When asked about the latest billboard Brown commented, “After seeing a billboard with such an open and inviting message, it was only a matter of time before we improved it.”

Why use the Prime Minister as the victim?
“The selection of the victim was a grueling process, as it was difficult to choose a person who will annoy a lot of people, while also bring great satisfaction to many others. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was used as he was currently receiving a lot of media attention for going to New York, to discuss the financial crisis. We also wanted to make it clear that our organisation will not withhold from questioning any form of society no matter how they are perceived in society.” Robert Brown.

What Moral is your work questioning?
“This particular work is of more interpretive nature, and is aimed at helping the public see the lighter side of politics, and to remove themselves from a stance of love or hate towards their country’s political leader, but a feeling of respect, which will help us to become a more tolerable country.” Brown.

Is there any future activities planned for the group?
“Yes. The group is constantly working on smaller projects, but future large scale activities will be focused on the use of billboards for alcohol advertisement, which we find quite contradictory with governmental interventions for this country’s aboriginal populations in central Australia.”

For Immediate Release

The Billboard Liberation Front partners with monochrom to erect the Great Firewall of China on Google’s Mountain View campus.

As shareholders at Google’s annual convention were counting their well earned dividends, America’s premier billboard improvement corporation, Billboard Liberation Front, assisted the Austrian arts collective monochrom in a monumental advertising coup designed to celebrate Google’s online partnership with the Peoples Republic of China.

China’s heroic effort to protect their enormous internet market (162 million!) from an overload of useless information includes a moratorium on abrasive, ugly, and thoroughly misleading concepts such as truth. China’s Internet “Cultural Revolution” is made possible through support from America’s most leviathanesque behemoth, Google Inc. ‘Don’t be evil’ says Google’s PR department!

During Dr. Eric Schmidt’s keynote address on China, BLF and monochrom agents worked feverishly to improve signs on Google’s campus.

Photo credit: Jake Appelbaum

The BLF (http://billboardliberation.com) has been improving outdoor advertising since 1977. Prior campaigns have included work for Exxon, R.J. Reynolds, General Motors, Revlon and Apple Computers. monochrom (http://monochrom.at/english) is an Austrian based worldwide collective dealing with technology, art, context hacking and philosophy since 1993. Some of them are afraid of skin cancer.

After the widely successful ATT/NSA ad campaign, the Billboard Liberation Front has decided to temporarily relocate to safehouses on the European continent.

“Ever since the cable guy came to fix my box, I keep hearing a clicking sound on my phone. Since when does cable repairmen wear dark suits and sunglasses? I think this would be a good time to get the hell out of Dodge.”, noted BLF spokesperson Blank DeCoverly.

Some of the BLF members simply wanted to get away from the constant praise and adulations from government officials over the high-visibility of the ad campaign.

“I have 10 missed calls from Linda Tripp. She must be a huge fan.”, stated BLF Chief Scientist Milton Rand Kalman

In order to get away from the media attention and stardom the Billboard Liberation Front is heading to Ghent, Belgium to speak at Vooruit’s The Game is Up art conference on March 8th, also attending is our spiritual leader Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping.

For an eleven-day period, Vooruit will offer a platform to artists who study the relationship between art and consumerism. From performers questioning their attitude towards show business to musicians committing commercial suicide and media artists embracing market principles.

When asked if speaking at an art conference in the middle of Belgium was the best response to the Current Situation, the BLF’s Ehrich Weiss replied.

If we’re not careful, our group’s reputation as a haven for subversive geniuses is going to be publicly overtaken by the reality that all we are is extremely creative alcoholics. Do you really want the truth to come out?