billboardism - the surface is falling on top of you


Bukresh City is toppled by billboards, and by any means it is not the only megalopolis loosing a lot of its outer surface to huge and monstrous ads spreading like some luscious skin disease.

There are other fictious examples of uncontrollable billboardism becoming a persisent and changing screensaver. It is not about the blue, technologically euphoric fresh and minty air proposed by big K but some smoked-down, carbonized, carcinogenic result of that. Dystopian cities everywhere are full of dark fumes and smog-drenched neighbourhoods. Blade Runner (1982) offers a view on the Los Angeles of November 2019. The blade-runner bounty hunter is always falling inside some trap. The city seems to be full of traps and the surrounging billboards make the visual entrapment even more sweet. In a world where reality is bought at a high price, the visual surroundings are full with artsy illusions. A majority lives below the line, making a living out of shady dealings. And all arround are promisses to off-world places. The promise of exotique pleasure flys arround on huge portable screens blinking in the night. This is the vision of Philip K. Dick coupled with the futuristic spinner-cars designed by Syd Mead(also see Tron). In some of the new screens from Bukresh you see the same layers. Coming from the Military Academy with the bus Nr. 368 or some other Center-to-Periphery means of transport, look on the left side on top of the new brick buildings - said to be some local bordello. It is a screen.


Casshern is a Japanese big-budget film recieving some of the worst reviews ever because of its ghastly script and awfull acting. Otherwise it is a key steampunk film presenting some alternate reality where a future Asian Communist Super-State is the center of attention. On the streets the billboards are actually ads to the great leader of the country with party slogans as catchwords reminescent of neo-stalinist design.

2 comments:

Vlad Nancă said...

La fel e si cu milioanele de fire de net, curent, telefon, hub-urile, aparatele de aer conditionat, antenele colective, antelenel parabolice si antenele paranoice - toate sunt din orasul viitorului, Bucurestiul orasului 2006 asa cum nu ni l-am imaginat niciodata insa mult, muuuuuult mai real!!!

Teo Ajder said...

Imi amintesc ca cu niste ani in urma, in filmul lui Mircea Daneliuc "Patul conjugal"(1992),
fusesem suprins de imaginile, ce apareau secvential, ca pe scheletele blocurilor neterminate erau intinse, ca rufele la uscat, primele panouri-cearceafuri publicitare. Ele mascau mizeria si degradarea acelor constructii abandonate. Dar si premonitia dezmatului de azi!

Cred ca astazi frivolitatea si avintul sistemului publicitar vrea sa arate ca e SINGURUL POSIBIL pe lume, care nu mai tine cont de legislatie, reglementari si avize. Monumentele, in cele mai dese cazuri, exista si finctioneaza ca simplu SUPORT pentru aceste ceasceafuri colorate...