New York based artist and activist Jordan Seiler, born in 1979, focuses his work on public advertising and on various ways of resisting it creatively. Having started taking over billboards and advertising spaces with his own artworks in the early 2000s, he has since developed various forms of subvertising, and organizes collective activism.

“While public space is thought of as a collective resource, it often serves the interests of a few, outdoor advertising being one prime example.”

Two series of works by Jordan Seiler are exhibited here: Collisions (2016–2020) is a series of augmented reality-enhanced photographs. By scanning the QR code next to the photo prints, you will be able to experience the augmented versions of the works, showing videos of the subverting acts.

PublicAccess keys are functional sculptures that allow anyone to use for their own purposes the civic infrastructure of cities that are normally reserved for commercial messaging. Seiler has created tools to open advertising displays and offers a how-to guide for using them. The key box set PublicAccess (2020) for opening these advertising displays can be found here in the vitrines. With this project Seiler says: “While public space is thought of as a collective resource, often it serves the interests of a few, outdoor advertising being one prime example.” The project offers easy access to the resource of poster space which, for the artist, represents a model for democratic participation in urban space.

On loan courtesy of the artist.