Democracy Now! has a feature on the use of mobile projection in Occupy Wall Street. Projections here are simple: factoids are blown up to big-building size, highlighting economic inequities. But the results do something even signs and megaphones may be unable to do, which is to reach a large audience of passers-by without in fact having to disturb almost any physical space.
Mobile projection is of course nothing new, and a topic we cover regularly here, but it becomes visible to a broader audience when involved in a hot-button political action like this. Article and transcript:
Projectionists Light Up New York City Buildings, and Protesters’ Spirits, with Occupy-Themed Display
Taylor K, a well-known artist in NYC, is featured in the video. He responds:
Seeing that these are ephemeral lights that we’re just shining onto the building, nobody can really claim it as ownership. And it’s not really graffiti, because it will move. But it still has the same impact, to the fact that we can put our message, communicate with our people, right on a canvas that we’ve been given, which happens to be City Hall.
Democracy Now! Is a usual suspect for progressive-skewed coverage, but I found that the projections also featured prominently in a number of bigger press outlets that covered the action.
(Side note: as a former resident of the neighborhood, I’m not sure “iconic” is the word I’d use to describe the Verizon building.)