In this collaborative work, alongside Vitya Glushchenko, I look into the mass of personal advertisements and announcements left on display on boards and stands around public spaces in the city of Amsterdam. By collecting ads from supermarkets, grocery shops, Internet cafes, parks, light poles, walls and fences, and by placing them into the spotlight, I create a view on the ever-changing nature of the marginal, alternative economy of the city and its inhabitants. As the notes are collected, they are replaced with a photocopy left on site, so as to trace back the public space to the new temporary display, doubling the message and the possible audience looking for rooms, jobs, services, lost and found items, or ones simply seeking attention, connection, trade, lack and want, outside of regular online social channels.
The work ends up simply being what it is: a message board; planning to trespass the aesthetic enjoyment of viewing, and, as a result, facilitating the purchase, exchange, replacement, finding or support.
Opening, November 24th, within the Bookstore Project, in "De Vitrine", Woutertje Pieterjestraat, Amsterdam.
Visuals to follow...