Student Dr's: Laura Atherton

Dr D's disciples...

Street Art has become a major genre of creative communication in the past 25 years, and in this time a collection of artists have become notorious for their additions to the street. Names such as Keith Haring, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Eine and JR have all made their dent in walls of society using various materials, from chalk to photo paste-ups.

One of the most direct ways to address the public with a message is to put it within a billboard or advertisement, and this trick has been capitalised upon by artists since the late 1980s. The rise of consumer and celebrity culture has overtaken our sense reality, we know that what companies advertise is not usually a promise. Cosmetics will not make us appear as 'beautiful' as models, although they try their best to show us how they might. Drinking Coke will not fill our lives with colour and song, more likely to rot our teeth whilst adding another penny to the pocket of a multinational extorsionate corporation. So, if an international company can be liberal with the truth in order to trick consumers into purchasing their brand, why not use this idea against them?

Culture jamming is the act of using existing billboards, bus-ads, posters and other media to comment on the very things they are selling. It is based on the idea that advertising is little more than propaganda for established interests, and that there is very little escape from this pressure in industrialized nations. Culture jamming is literally 'halting' massive corporate brands from taking over our lives, it tries to establish a balance between advertising and truth.

An artist who uses this method in much of his work is Dr D. Combining subvertising and detournement, Dr D creates original designs and also takes recognisable advertisments and transforms the text to create a social or political message. He manipulates the images so skillfully that his work creates a massive impact, we, as viewers are rewarded for our interaction and thought when we realise what the Dr is now offering up for sale. He makes the viewer question anything and everything from personal freedom (ID cards)
to political malpractice (Murdoch media bid) and manages to do it with more than a hint of satire.

"What I do is a problem-solving exercise that comes out of pragmatic laziness. How can I adapt a board to say something in the easiest possible way? The logistics is what influences how the final piece looks-

I think like an ad-man but I’m not promoting a product, I’m working for my own ends"

This altruistic attitude toward art is what keeps Dr D at the top of his game. Art is communication, and of course, the majority of artists would like a donation for their message to be seen in the public arena. I suspect Dr D feels what he has to say is of benifit to society, and therefore, priceless.

Ultimately, his art is for everyone, unlike the products advertised on the billboards that we could all do without.

Monday, 17 October 2011

Laura Atherton

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