These are the dudes that did King Corn, a movie I’d highly recommend. (Available as a ‘watch instantly’ on Netflix.)
Here are the original Corn Refiners Association HFCS ads for reference.
Check out this cool firefox plugin that replaces ads with art (from Steve Lambert’s web site).
Introduction to Add-Art from Steve Lambert on Vimeo.
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Here is Lambert’s artist statement…really good stuff:
For me, art is a bridge that connects uncommon, idealistic, or even radical ideas with everyday life. I carefully craft various conditions where I can discuss these ideas with people and have a mutually meaningful exchange. Often this means working collaboratively with the audience, bringing them into the process or even having them physically complete the work.I want my art to be relevant to those outside the gallery – say, at the nearest bus stop – to reach them in ways that are engaging and fun. I intend what I do to be funny, but at the core of each piece there is also a solemn critique. It’s important to be able to laugh while actively questioning the various power structures at work in our daily lives.
I have the unabashedly optimistic belief that art changes the way people look at the world. That belief fuels a pragmatic approach to bring about those changes.
Thanks for the link, Andrew.
At RootsCamp DC, I went to a workshop led by Andrew Boyd from Agit-Pop on the use of irony and humor in pushing progressive issues.
Boyd led the workshop along w/ a former Onion editor and another dude.
The session started out with everyone do jumping jacks.
They went on to show some video examples of media using humor/irony to carry social/political commentary.
He talked about this Yes Men project:
And a handful of other really funny media stunts that struck me as very effective.
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Here is a video Agit-Pop helped produce that won for best Youtube political video in 2007:
I’m not a huge fan of Truth’s stuff or musical theater, but I like this one:
