Williamsburg is full of aspiring musicians, artists, and the like, and more than other parts of Brooklyn or Manhattan (or maybe it just seems more concentrated because I live here), you find all kinds of homemade "advertisements" posted on the street--political statements, propaganda, inside jokes or things that seem like inside jokes, and surprisingly beautiful little artistic statements. I remember the first time I noticed one--and I stared at it for five minutes trying to figure out what "product" it was advertising, what was the catch. It was so lovely and professional looking I was sure it was some sort of viral campaign for a product. Really someone just wanted to communicate a sort of "advertisement" (I call them that since there is no official term for them I've heard to date) about an IDEA. With no ulterior motive or intention to make money or profit from it. Just to pass along the knowledge, man. Hmmm. Anywho, I've posted a bunch that I've taken pictures of--most of these are up around the Bedford Avenue area, the sort-of "downtown" area of Williamsburg. Sometimes they are put up on random spots on buildings, and also frequently outside construction sites. I suppose the large wooden panels they put up at construction sites here to keep out the riff-raff make for excellent canvasses for large creative statements. The "lost my shit" ad was on the platform on the subway--but if you look closely, the place where you tear off someone's number along the bottom, contains a web address, lostmyshit.com, which if you visit you'll find doesn't exist! so someone went to the trouble of making this flyer, making photo copies of it, and putting it up around the neighborhood, I guess just as a joke? I don't know, it's kind of bizarre. Some of the quality is lost in the pictures, but I hope the spirit comes across adequately. I'm interested to get your thoughts on them.
