The thing I hate the most about advertising is that it attracts all the bright, creative and ambitious young people, leaving us mainly with the slow and self-obsessed to become our artists…never in the field of human history has so much been used by so many to say so little. – Banksy

Slow and self-obsessed? Way harsh, Banksy. I’m not going to chime in on that part of your quote. However, I do often think about the possible art the super bright, creative, and ambitious people in the IMA’s Design Studio would be creating if they had unlimited time and money and weren’t grinding out ads for me about Free General Admission (shameful plug). Of course, that’s not to say that great art is always created from pure passion without hopes of compensation, but haven’t artists mainly paid the bills by creating art for other people? I mean, I’m no art historian but a lot of great art was commissioned in some way, right? And while I understand Banksy’s criticism, today I’m going to point out a few examples of what I think are artistic advertisements.

The advertisement above is a general one for HBO’s programming. I’ve seen a few films in my day and have even been known to make distinctions between “films” and “movies.” Had the “short film” not ended with an HBO message, I could have easily believed this was some student’s art film project. Maybe HBO even hired an art film maker to produce this ad. Perfect use of music. Perfect use of voice-over. A subtle story twist. Nice.

AAF Addy Award - Best of Show 2008

The advertisement above is for Downy Wrinkle Releaser. Pretty funny. A clever artistic fold turned something as unremarkable as “wrinkle releaser” into something memorable and humorous. I like it and could definitely see it hanging on the wall up in the contemporary galleries.

AFF Addy Award - Special Judges Award 2008

The advertisement above, again utilizing some humor, is for pizza. Again, pretty funny. A clever combination of objects with a message you don’t normally associate with pizza sauce. Very nice. If it were in a gallery upstairs underneath a vitrine I wouldn’t have ever known it was an ad.

Banksy may not believe it (although I’m pretty sure he’s not as cynical in person as he is in print), but I’m convinced that bright, creative, and ambitious people aren’t necessarily wasting their time creating ads. As the examples above hopefully go to show, there can be art in advertising. If you have examples of your own, let me have them in the comments.

]]> http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/06/10/advertisements-as-art/feed/ 7 http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/05/27/free-admission/ http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/05/27/free-admission/#comments Wed, 27 May 2009 16:37:00 +0000 Phil Golobish http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/?p=5366 Yesterday, I was catching up on Seth’s Blog and came across a post that mentions a restaurant in Denver, Colorado that has a new menu every week full of healthy organic dishes without prices. Sounds swank, right? Wrong. The restaurant’s name is So All May Eat Cafe (SAME) and operates under a donation model. Instead of the usual check at the end of the meal, guests get an envelope for a donation. If no donation can be made, the owners offer the guest the opportunity to help out a little in the kitchen. Cool, huh?

Giving things away for free can be a pretty powerful marketing tool – people like good deals and spreading the good deal word. For example, an ice cream loving friend of mine makes sure to tell me every year when it’s free scoop day. With the promise of “free” in her head, she immediately gets in the car and picks up anyone she’s been able to get a hold of via cellphone to join in on an adventure in urban-empty-calorie-hunting. Speaking of calories, remember a few months back when Denny’s announced during the Super Bowl that they would be serving free Grand Slam breakfasts for one day only?

Like SAME Cafe, the IMA’s “menu” is free and we only ask for donations. However, while we don’t have free treats for mouths and stomachs, we can fill a person’s appetite for culture. This Summer, help us spread the “Free Admission” word and tell your friends, family, and anyone else who likes free stuff.

For starters, Seth Godin, my go-to marketing guru, recently blogged about what he believes are the key ingredients of web commercials and I’m convinced they apply to viral videos as well. Seth’s recipe is as follows:

1. Assume that the viewer has the attention span of an espresso-crazed fruitfly. That means slapstick, quick cuts and velocity.

2. Find a word or phrase that you can own in Google, that fits in an email, and that comes up in discussion at the cafeteria table or in the playground.

3. Length doesn’t matter. 10 seconds is fine and so is five minutes. Media is free, remember?

4. Challenge the status quo, be provocative, touch a social nerve or create some other sort of interesting conversation. In other words, a commercial worth watching.

What I take from Seth’s observations is that people on the Internet will only respond “virally” to very specific types of content. And like always, content is king.

Now that I have the recipe, does it call for blender?

One of the best examples that demonstrates Seth’s observations is the “Will it Blend?” campaign by industrial blender manufacturer, Blendtec. Their web commercials contain a healthy dash of quirk and velocity, are found by typing the easy to remember phrase “will it blend” into Google, and touch the social nerve by destroying precious iPhones by violent rotating blade. As for the campaigns effectiveness, how many industrial blender manufacturers can you name?

So, what does an IMA viral video look like? Right now, it’s a secret but only because I have no idea. I’m open to suggestions. However, if I do end up trying my hand at viral video creation, I hope you get infected.

Since then, I’ve ditched the dial-up modem for broadband and ReBirth for a full blown electronic music production suite called Reason. Needless to say, I’m still fascinated by electronic music. However, what is more fascinating to me is that electronic music production has gotten to the point where musicians can now be recognized for being able to play a laptop just as well as someone who can play a piano. Here’s a neat fact, an electronic instrument called a “Drumitar” has been used to win five Grammy Awards. Check out a video of it being played here.

Given my fascination with electronic music, I’ll definitely be in The Toby this Thursday, April 16, to see Beatrix*JAR. The JAR is a one-of-a-kind electronic sound art duo that messes with the circuits of electronic toys to make super entertaining glitch tunes. Basically, Speak and Spell bends to their musical wishes and becomes their instrument.

I’m super excited about the show and encourage anyone who is even slightly interested in music to attend. If you’re unsure about what kind of fuzzy sonic bliss you’re getting into, Beatrix has a MySpace page with some great tracks in their player.

And, because I’m really trying get the “electronic music rules” word out, the first two people (non IMA employees) who leave a comment will get a free ticket to see Beatrix*JAR.

In order to get a ticket, the comment must read, “Phil,  I want to see Beatrix*JAR and will pick up the ticket at the IMA front desk at 7:00 pm on Thursday.”

Hope to see you there!

Fashion in Bloom – Inside and out, the IMA is blooming. Last Friday I checked out “Fashion in Bloom” up on Gallery Level 2 and have had plants and garments on my mind ever since. Sometimes, I like to be contrary, so here are some garments on plants. And just because I think they’re both neat, here is a girl in a zipper dress which reminded me of the oft forgotten fashion item, Units/Multiples.

Innovative Coffee Lid – While I don’t usually drink coffee myself, I do appreciate a clever way to get the cream and sugar back to the office so a buddy can customize their drink to their liking.

Homes of Famous Architects – The IMA recently aquired Miller House and Garden and all the activity surrounding it has created within me an interest for home design. Here’s a connection, turns out the Eames home in Northern California was designed with the help of Miller House designer, Eero Saarinen.

Monday Music – “No One Does it Like You”  by Department of Eagles. I’ve been thinking about getting a fish and supposedly this band has a “Pet Sounds” flavor.Download audio file (departmentofeagles_noonedoesitlikeyou.mp3)

At this stage in my Internet life, I’m wise to April Fools’ Day on the web and haven’t truly been had in years. However, that’s not to say I don’t look forward to the one day every year when cornball webmasters and bloggers try to pull one over on unsuspecting visitors. Honestly, I love the cheap humor April 1st brings and thought it would be fun to share a few fool sightings from around the web.

My first foolish sighting of the day was Wikipedia’s homepage. Most mornings I’m greeted with a rather bland but necessary infusion of random trivia from the web’s main tome of knowledge. However, my eyes perked open and a smile came to my face when I saw that the main article today is for a museum called MOBA (Museum of Bad Art). Cool. The best thing about Wikipedia’s “prank” page is that all of the content is seemingly true. For example, Britain’s oldest man, Henry Allington, really does credit his longevity to “cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women—and a good sense of humour.” Latecomers can see the April 1st site here.

An overwhelming amount of unbelievable news is usually a good tip that the calendar reads April one. For example, Warner Bros. Acquires the Pirate Bay for the price of a whopping $13 billion is unbelievable. BMW releasing cars that have a magnetic tow feature is totally unbelievable. And although there are some times I wish Google would really create this feature, Gmail’s Autopilot is unfortunately just unbelievable April news.

Some other notable pranks around the web include…

YouTube’s foolish contribution to April orientation here.  Try it yourself by addin “&flip=1″to any YouTube video.

Pizza Hut is apparently getting into the portrait business. Check out their artsy prank here.

Funnyordie.com has been completely taken over by Reba.

LOST is cancelled.

If you were made a fool today or did some fooling of your own, I’d like to hear about it in the comments. And for those of you who think that you made it all the way to the end of my post without getting pranked, why don’t you check out the history behind the name “April.”

Indianapolis Art Survey – Scott, over at “On the Cusp.org,” has posted a survey that hopes to collect the thoughts and habits of the Indianapolis art scene. The questions are thought provoking and answering them took about 10 minutes. If you’re in a survey mood, head on over and check it out.

pushbuttonreceivebacon.com – As of late, I’ve had to get pretty good with MS Paint and can really appreciate people being creative with such a simple and broken tool. I’m so used to the constraints of Paint that I actually like it more than say, the Gimp. If you can relate to being creative on a budget that doesn’t include Photoshop, check out this blog with bacon it its title.

Environmental Impact of Google Searches – Who knew?

Koto Sound Team Kyara – This Friday, join us in The Toby as this acclaimed ensemble interprets classical, jazz, and anime themes through traditional Japanese instruments. As much one can rock on a Koto, I expect this performance to be up there as far as “bangers” go. Join us.

Monday Music – “Lucky Girl” by The Pepper Pots. A little sugar for Monday ears that also like to hear a good “Iron Man” reference.Download audio file (The_Pepper_Pots-Lucky_Girl.mp3)

We asked the people and the people have spoken. The 2009 Summer Nights Poll results are now official and I’d like to thank everyone who took the time to participate. Without further delay, I present to you the winning films.

Rainout Poll Winner: Field of Dreams
On June 26, we will hopefully make up for last year’s frequent summer rains and show an inspiring film about the power of America’s favorite pastime. Starring Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones, we hope that “if you picked it, you will come.”

Lights, Camera, Action Flick Poll Winner: Fight Club
On July 10, join us as we marvel at Brad Pitt’s abs and his violent fraternity of misfits. Based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk and directed by David Fincher, Fight Club not only has a satisfying and complicated plot but is also visually stunning. Some cool effects with this one. Good pick.

Cult Classics Poll Winner: Dazed & Confused

On August 14, pack up your buddies and join us for a summer night where Ben Affleck, Milla Jovovich, Matthew McConaughey and the love of my life, Parker Posey, prepare Randall “Pink” Floyd (Jason Landon) for summer break. The music is good in this one too.

Music Poll Winner: High Fidelity *Updated 3/25/2009*

On August 28, music takes a leading role when we show this comedy about girls, mix tapes, and top five lists. Cusack siblings are onboard and Jack Black treats viewers with well timed quips and Belle and Sebastian references. If you’ve got a top five music list, I’d like to see it in the comments.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in our Summer Nights Poll. We had a great time going through the results and can’t wait for summer. See you under the stars!

The 2009 Summer Nights Film Schedule

*Updated 3/25/2009

June 5: Bourne Identity (2002)
June 12:  Roman Holiday (1953)
June 19: Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959)
June 26:  RAINOUTS POLL WINNER: Field of Dreams (1989)
July 3:  Goonies (1985)
July 10:  LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION FLICK POLL WINNER: Fight Club (1999)
July 17:  TBD (in collaboration with Indianapolis International Film Festival)
July 24:  The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)(Midnight showing; gates open at 10 p.m.)
July 31:  Gilda (1946)
August 7:  Hustle & Flow (2005)
August 14:  CULT CLASSICS POLL WINNER: Dazed & Confused (1993)
August 21:  V for Vendetta (2005)
August 28:  MUSIC POLL WINNER: High Fidelity (2000)
*Film schedule subject to change.

Phil’s Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

I Has A Designz – is an IMA Flickr group that we created to see what kinds of cool designy stuff people see in their everyday lives. We’re also using it to give away tickets to European Design Since 1985. Check out the stream on the exhibition website. Oh, and the grand prize is a $100 gift certificate to the Design Center.

SXSW 2009 Music on BitTorrent – I’m missing SXSW so I’ll have to take what I can get. For those of you into music, a very nice person has bundled up all the free MP3s from the SXSW website and set up a page with links to some torrents. If you want the music but aren’t familiar with BitTorrent, know that you’ll need a little program to handle your torrents (a client) and that μTorrent is easy to set up and easy on your system.

SXSW on Twitter – There may be more, but I can confirm that at least one member of the IMA Blog team likes Twitter, Pepsi, and Visualizations. If you like any of these things you may like this interesting use of JavaScript that pulls in tweets about SXSW and displays them in a pretty way. I’m not sure how often the tweets coming through “overheard” are updated but the ones from this morning made me chuckle.

Make Something Cool Every Day – Someday I hope to have the time to make something cool every day. However, until that time in my life comes I’ve resolved to find something cool on the Internet every day. Behance does it again.

Monday Music – “Sweet Disposition” by The Temper Trap – Thanks to WeAllWantSomeone.org for the link.Download audio file (the-temper-trap-sweet-disposition.mp3)

Phil’s Pharmacy prescribes the following links to combat Monday online anemia.

Digital Graffiti – Pretty cool link from Jenny that tells of a little resort village that lets artists “paint” their town walls with digital graffiti. And for you projection artists out there, Digital Graffiti is accepting submissions for their 2009 show in Alys Beach.

Skittles.com – This new Mars website for its Skittles brand of fruity morsels takes all your buzz worthy social media sites (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc) and uses them as replacements for traditional brand landing pages. Clever. However, add in a goofy peice of navigation, an equally goofy enter your birthday thing, the possibilty for people to spam your Facebook Wall and Twitter feed with garbage, and you’ve got yourself a recipe for frustration. Taste the Pain-Bow.

PostSecret – Got a secret you want to share with the web? Write it on a post card and send it to PostSecret. Check the blog.

Museums and the Web – is going to be in Indianapolis this year and the IMA is hosting a few events. Check out the agenda here.