'We get so much of our information fed to us online by algorithms.' Think that Facebook advertisement that popped up today for the Gap sweater you searched for yesterday. 'These billboards are really one of the only places that I see any kind of aesthetic or political value or idea that doesn't already agree with my own tastes or values,' Thompson noted. Can't swipe left to get to the one that matches our perspective. We can't click 'like' and get more similar messages down the road. No matter what, we can't skip billboards as we drive or walk by. And as a result of that, when they see other signs, they are going to think about those with a newer sense of curiosity and not just sort of accept all the messages that you are given in this sort of blind way or just ignore them.' 'I think that's part of the project that someone might drive by that sign and not know what it is,' Thompson said. Important, no matter if the tone is playful or sober or somewhere in between. Each is something to see, but no one is telling us what to do after we look. These visuals are enigmatic and compelling. That's one of the reasons why the language of 'The I-71 Project' travels in the opposite direction. More work from Lisa Anne Auerbach, Glenn Ligon and Kay Rosen will appear through Nov. It includes nine billboards in Hamilton County, as well as Mel Bochner's 'Blah, Blah, Blah' construction sign sculptures in both Over-the-Rhine's Washington Park and in two locations in Columbus. Provocative yet non-partisan, the exhibit features public installations that explore the political theater staged in the battleground state of Ohio. The dramatic, panoramic piece is also the flagship of 'The I-71 Project,' a joint project of the Contemporary Arts Center and the Columbus Museum of Art. Borrowing from the political advertising aesthetic, McGinness states 'Re-elect Skull & Crossbones.' This is art.įlanked by the two major party's animal avatars, a skull and crossbones symbol anchors his image.

But the massive message towering above a family farm doesn't get much clearer than that.īecause this image by Ryan McGinness is not a sign. And the colors become shapes and some of those shapes become words. From northbound Interstate 71, it emerges as a massive block of red, white and blue floating above the ochre rows of roots, a recent harvest's remains.īetween exit 40 and 41, that block becomes a billboard in a blink.

Re elect skull and bones