Andrew Schroeder

After a long weekend of phlegm, I’m back in action. I was riding in my buddy Mike’s car on an errand at work and the topic of cool new ads and the Walker’s hosting of the British Advertising Awards came up.

What does it mean when the most interesting parts of a society’s visual culture are advertisements? I’m asking this in lieu of both the Brit’s advertising foray’s and also the Adicolor series from Adidas. For the most part, there seems to be a distinct lack of products (aside from the following VW commercial) -but- these ads seem to go beyond the touchy-feely, emotional adverts of the 90s.

Lets take for example the Cabury advert of a Gorilla playing the drum sequence in the Phil Collins’ song “In the Air Tonight”.  The advertisment has nothing to do with the crappy chocolate from Cadbury… but… I can’t stop watching the ad.  Taken a step further… apparently the studio that owns the rights to the song has prevented it from being included in versions of the ad posted to You Tube.  So, the gorilla ad runs… without Phil Collins.

The result is something akin to a piece of video art you could find in any white cube gallery.  (Embedding has been disabled… you’ll have to… click)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1hfNNcOrfY

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A different side of the coin: What happens when a social fabric (in this case a city) decides to openly reject advertisements? The city of Sao Paulo, Brazil decided last year to ban outdoor advertisements.  Photographer Tony de Marco has been documenting the city’s empty billboard structures…

From Tony de Marco's FLICKR

My next question: If visual advertisements are banned – how have the advertisers retaliated? Is all advertising product placement? Word of mouth? Do people “randomly” break into the Coke jingle in order to sell soda?

From my Bass Pig friend in Los Angeles:

My co-worker, friend, and new found confidant, Mike had his 27th birthday at Gastof’s.  Delicious. Especially the crowd that was already there gettin’ freaky. Including this wonderful, stringy haired beast in a silver suit.  God bless em. God bless the midwest.

And Mike breakin’ it down Bavarian beer-hall style.

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What are you doing to me?!?!?!

I also discovered the painful beauty of snuff. Tobacco: up the nose. Apparently some fucked up Germans like this.  Few things in life make me make this face.  Apparently snuff is one of them.

5B4 is featuring the rather amazing work of Guy Tilim. I couldn’t be more interested in his images right now. As a die-hard lover/admirer/photographer of the relics of Modernist architecture, Tilim’s images blow my skirt up, way up and over my head. LINK

I’ve been planning a major trip to South America to photograph Brasilia for two years. Seeing the viability, depth, and richness of Tilim’s work makes me want to punish my VISA card and buy some tickets.

Anyone out there up for a trip to a Modernist Utopia?

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There are certain things I’ve learned about myself over the last 3 months that continue to amaze me. Things like how many gin and tonics I can drink. How delightful an ice-cold Cornonita can while driving throught the desert in a Toyota Prius. And…

How much I like French-Speaking boys.

They’re dangerous. Alot like the haircuts and dancemoves in this Vive la Fete video for Touche Pas:

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Finally, the image of the day. I found this amazing building when I first moved here in 2005. Its been graffitied, burned, reviled, spit-upon, and imploded. With any luck, the condo-crazy gay men will NOT be able to knock it over to build yet another generic building.

I cannot think of anything worse than living in a city filled with wifey gay men who are home owners. Someone out there has to offer a smidgen of difference.

Long live the relic.

Implosion Room, 2007

I’m such a sap these days. But, that’s that.

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Apparently Not Loving My Polenta Fries

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And Photographs from Marco Zanta.

(for Andrea Jenkins, somewhere in Brooklyn)