Recently I’ve become fascinated with the work of New York-based artist Jason Eppink, who makes everything from light sculptures, to user-generated internet programs, to street art. His work is highly conceptual and often falls into the category of culture-jamming, although the blade of social commentary is sheathed in playfulness.  His work usually includes taking over public or commercial space. He thinks of these pieces as collaborations between himself, the public and the “landlord” of the space—whether he’s reclaiming a billboard or throwing a mini-rave  inside an empty newspaper dispenser.

Print After Parties, his recent project with Posterchild is described on his blog as “a series of unauthorized notional raves thrown in the abandoned distribution infrastructure of crumbling print institutions…while dead tree publishers loudly lament the fate of their aging information delivery system in the wake of the internet, enterprising trailblazers have found cheaper, faster ways to successfully meet public demand for celebrity gossip and sex scandals without razing forests, filling dumps, or obsessing over boring foreign affairs.”

 

Another favorite, Jason’s plastic pixelator, a 27.5” x 49.5” grid scrambles LED video advertising at the entrance to subways, diffusing the ads into what Jason describes as “a pleasant array of 45 blinking, color changing squares.” If you want to try your own hand at making a pixelator, find instructions 325x244]

These are only a few of the pranks included on Jason’s diverse and extensive resume. To keep up with what’s happening now and to read about a backlog of projects, check out Jason’s blog and his website.

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