Should people be forced to move out into the country in
order to get genuine freedom from the overbearing level of advertisement in
public space? This documentary focuses on this very issue: visual pollution in
urban areas. The film brings up the very important question of why the city has
the right to sell of our visual lives to companies who want to sell products.
Whoever owns the land that a building is located on or that a billboard is
placed on has the right to rent out space for the benefit of private industry.
The film covers two issues in this debate about advertising
in public areas. The first of these has to do with the legality of the
advertisements. Although it is legal to put up billboards, there are legal
limits in many areas to how big they may be, and in the case of electronic
billboards, how distracting they may legally be. It has always mystified me how
it is legal for casinos and car dealerships to put up huge colorful signs that
blink, change and light up all to the distraction of passing drivers, but it is
illegal to have undercarriage blue lights on your vehicle because it might
cause an accident. The law in this case seems to reflect the interests of
business and not really the interest of public safety.
The other issue touched on in the film was the reaction of
some select people to what has become of our public visual space. Artists are
drawn to beautify the spaces around them, and in the case of mass visual
pollution, one artist in particular decided to bring his art to solve the
problem. The film documents a man in New York who paints over billboards in his
home city and replaces them with original works of art. This is a prime example
of the conflict between creative people and the cult of consumerism.
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