In New York, public space can often feel like ad space, and one New Yorker has had enough of it.
In a video recently posted by Slate, the artist and activist Jordan Seiler discusses an ongoing project he dubs Public Access, which addresses what he sees as the problematic transformation of public space into advertising space.
"Over the years," Seiler, 36, writes, "[bus or trolley systems have] become an integral part of the global outdoor advertising industry in the form of bus shelters and other municipal infrastructure."
To combat this, the Manhattan resident sells forged "keys" that he makes in his own home. Owners can use the keys — which look more like long, hooked metal rods than your standard door key — to open bus shelter ad displays and replace the ads with, well, something else.
Seiler adds that removing ads isn't just a canny artistic stunt. To him, it's an act to help preserve the public interest.
"This global corporate message stands against our public interest by distracting us from each other in favor of ourselves, invoking our desires to the detriment of our environment, and silencing our public voices by institutionalizing corporate visual expression in our shared sacred spaces," Seiler wrote on his site.
The artist-activist doesn't seem to be too concerned about the legality of his project.
"People have made [the keys] before," Seiler told Slate. "I think I'm just the first one to try and give them to other people."
It's not only New Yorkers who are buying Seiler's keys. People everywhere from Tel Aviv to Shanghai to Paris have bought Seiler's forged keys and used them in their own acts of "civil disobedience," according to Seiler's map and Instagram account.
In many instances, artists like ELLE, TAEKS, the Flower Guy, Spectre and Lister "[use] Seiler's keys to hijack the public spaces as a venue for their at," Slate wrote.
Since 2000, the Manhattan resident has worked to "[explore] contemporary public space issues surrounding advertising and art," in what he calls his Public Ad Campaign.
Throughout the past decade and a half, this endeavor has assumed many forms, be they outdoor art projects, experimental video or writing.
If you're an ad-hating commuter who's not into incorporating "hijacking" into your daily routine, don't worry: there's an app for that.
Along with Jowy Romano of the Subway Art Blog, Seiner has developed an iPhone app which uses augmented reality to "transform NYC subway advertising content into a curated digital art experience."
Of course, Seiler doesn't aim to remove every single ad on display, he told Slate. Rather, he views his projects — and more specifically the keys — as mechanisms that facilitate dialogue.
Of the keys, Seiler said, "artists and individuals can treat [them]...as functional sculptures to interject their thoughts into our shared public spaces."
