Reverse graffiti embraced by advertisers

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Reverse graffiti is a delightfully provocative art form that works by selectively cleaning the grime off a city’s walls and streets (and by writing “clean me” on the back of vans). It has city governments the world over racking their brains over how to prosecute the perpetrators—how are you going to punish the people that clean your city for you? But officials need not worry much longer because they’re getting help from an unlikely source: the business world. The Dutch version of women’s magazine Elle has started a reverse graffiti campaign to advertise its wares. Surely no self-respecting artist will touch reverse graffiti now that it has been tainted by commercialism?

Elle’s “artists”—in a presumed rush to get as much work done as possible—are using stencils and pressure washers to clean parts of the pavement.

Photos: stills from Elle’s promotional video. See also: reverse graffiti by Moose (UK) and by Alexandre Orion (Brasil). Via Dagelinks (Dutch).

1 Comment »

  1. […] the idea is quite brilliant, I could do with less permeable advertising in my life. The plague of reverse graffiti is bad […]

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