Visual Journal - Research, BRANDALISM

'Brandalism is a revolt against corporate control of the visual realm'

The brandalism group/movement exists as an opposition to traditional advertising in our public spaces, commercial advertising that has not been chosen by the public but instead is controlled by financial power and aims for profit. By using the techniques and methods derived from street art, the movement takes over massive billboards, bus stops and other advertising spaces within our urban environments, replacing corporate advertising with artwork from hundreds of artists from around the world, often with a political subject and activist intent. The work they do is displayed illegally, but directly combats the visual bombardment that is commercial culture, using the big business's own tactics to reach mass audiences, provoking thought and exposing the absurdity that is consumerist advertising to the general public. 

'We start from the democratic conviction that the street is a site of communication, which belongs to the citizens and communities who live there'

The project also has another side to it, that is the ownership, uses and authority over public spaces. They aim to take back what they believes is rightfully theirs, that is the public space as a space to express and communicate how the occupiers of that space choose, not how an outside entity like a wealthy business or governmental body dictates. It becomes an issue not just of the corporate culture itself, it's negative effects and the misuse of design for it's damaging motives, but also the way in which it uses, and misuses, the environments in which the majority of us live in and use daily. 

One thing I think that is really effective with the campaign is the breadth and variety of work that is produced in response to the societal issues the artists choose to communicate. From simple type posters, with strong slogans and powerful messages, to more illustrative, ambiguous posters which are more subtle in their messages and intent. The former creating a bold statement, immediately urging the viewer to think about the meaning of what they are reading, and the latter perhaps more focussed on beautifying a frame that was formerly filled with meaningless consumerist imagery, but still with a deeper, more thought-provoking message ever-present.