Inkijk # 26: Small Event

For the second time in a row, SKOR approached W139 to present a project in and around the Inkijk. Thomas Buxó and Martine Stig created an installation by using the communication techniques that are used in advertising. This is done in order to confront the public at large with the issue surrounding the awareness of visual art.

Recently the use of large advertising banners that are fixed to scaffolding was legalized in Amsterdam. These banners have significantly affected the urban scenery. Gigantic publicity banners featuring beautiful women and attractive men who sell a range of cosmetics, perfumes, i-pods and fast cars, dominate the city center. Buxó designed a banner that, stylistically and visually, conforms to these types of publicity campaigns. Stig photographed a young model in a simple and carefree manner. The model represents nothing more than an attractive face for the advertisement. However, stripped of any allusions to advertising, it becomes difficult to interpret the photograph.

The subject immediately attracts one’s attention. It is just as conspicuous and appealing as an advertisement and – in its lack of any product - it raises the question: “Is this art???? With his text (“A GREAT DEAL OF RED TAPE???) accompanying the photo, Buxó simultaneously points, in a humorous manner, to the complex licensing policies that are maintained by Amsterdam’s local government with respect to the placing of art and advertising in public space. These rules and regulations or, “red tape???, often make the realization of projects in public space time-consuming and arduous.