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I just walked by this piece of water stencil on a busy shopping street in Vienna. Not a bad link to ‘green’ electricity company OEKOSTROM. Although I quite like the idea not to use colour to spray messages on floors and walls, I guess it is easier to paint over a piece of design than to dirty a clean piece of street to get rid of the message.

Was it the visual, the unknown product or the constant exposure? I just couldn’t help it but notice the recent POM campaign during my visit to NY.

8 days cruising through Manhattan and I had at least 2 contacts per day. After the 2nd day, I already bought the product. Being blessed with gourmet taste buds, I guess I give it a 2 (out of 5). Not considering all subjective evaluation measures, I went out and purchased that piece. That’s what matters. And for that, the campaign gets 5 stars.

The other day in New York City. I went for a stroll through the city and nearly stepped on one of these little rat lookalike dogs, when I saw this huge image of a rat and immediately I thought: Banksy was here.

Whether it was him or some other artist, the rats stimulate talk. They function as a mood processor and reflect the artists opinion on the financial crisis, the media, advertising - current topics and cynical thoughts.

I wish every city had its Banksys. Vienna certainly lacks this form of expression. And don’t think that an old historically charged place like Vienna doesn’t have empty spaces downtown to offer enough canvasses for urban art.

After asking around whether there were more of these designs around, it was quite amazing to realize how many people were aware of them. The guys in Canal Street led me to the painting on Howard Street and the Hot Dog vendor there sent me to MacDougal and Housten street.

So, supposing it was Banksy who left his oversized footprint throughout Manhattan behind, I had to follow his trail and stop by the probably most visited shop in the West Village throughout October 2008:

THE VILLAGE PET STORE AND CHARCOAL GRILL.

When my cab drove past it, there were at least 50 people queuing up at the entrance. When I returned after dinner, the queue had doubled, now about 5 zig-zag lines long. A store and you couldn’t even buy anything. I’m quite certain that drove America’s shop-o-holic society  c r a z y.

My first look fell on this animal. The leopard was wiggling its tail…

I walked around the cage and was… surprised.  

The entire store filled with installations giving away, well… messages to think about. Shocking, painfully entertaining, but all of them pretty awesome.

 This hen watched her little ones…

 well… little processed ones.

This monkey wore headphones and watched a monkey programme on discovery channel.

Or these swimming fish fingers. All in all a fascinating store concept and I guess a more efficient idea to create awareness for a good cause or a social message than the action of some Viennese animal activists who scream their slogans into speaker phones opposite department stores while you want to have a relaxed Saturday afternoon stroll through the city.

Finally. Monday, the 15th of September. Nearly Midnight - when those who care about culture - watch TV, my film was aired on national TV. 12% Market share. 95.000 viewers. A guy who sent an email to the TV station, saying: ‘That guy in the film, I want his job. Put me in contact with him.’ And a screening party of 20 people in my house. Everybody in my circle got involved - even my favourite sushi place around the corner.

It is astonishing, the feeling that hits you afterwards. To hear the applause of the people you invited. The encouraging phone calls and SMS you instantly get. The moment you realize it’s like standing in a queue of an over-crowded amusement park. You wait 2 hours in line in order to get the pleasure of riding 2 minutes in that roller-coaster train. 2 years of investing unconditional love into a piece that was gone in 34′13″. Have I fallen into the classical post-creative-process mood? 

My mum, the queen of motivation would clap her hands and say ‘what’s next?’. So do I. Buy and watch my DVD. It will be out in November. One hour of further unconditional love.

This is an announcement for those who have been waiting for it… and of course those who didn’t even know it. My film, the result of 3,5 years of work is finally getting published. What a process it has been. Day and night of writing, organizing, critizising, adapting, revising, laughing, crying and finally smiling. A screening date. A good placement. A PLACEMENT!

 September 15. ORF 2. Culture programme ‘art.genossen’. 23.30h.

You gotta check out this festival next year. ARS Electronica. A festival for art, technology and society. Amazing installations, great young international artists, unlimited inspiration. Here my personal favourites.

http://reactable.iua.upf.edu/

The reactable is an intelligent musical instrument specially conceived for multi-user performances. There’s room for several players at this round table; visible on its surface are geometric figures, each of which symbolizes a specific sound. Moving the figures back and forth, rotating or interlinking them modifies the sounds they produce. With its highly intuitive, user-friendly interface, it can be played by anyone. But this is not just some music-making toy; the reactable is a genuine instrument and, accordingly, it takes some practice to get the most out of it. Proof of this was recently provided by Scandinavian artist Björk, who used one on her latest world tour. The reactable has been singled out for recognition with the 2008 Golden Nica in the Digital Musics category.

www.juliusvonbismarck.com/fulgurator

Image Fulgurator is amazing to behold—due in equal measure to its ingenious concept and its simple technical implementation. It makes it possible to manipulate photos and to do so at precisely the moment they’re being shot. This subversive witchcraft functions with any camera—as long as the flash is in use. The Image Fulgurator is synchronized with the flash to project some random message onto the subject being focused on at the moment the picture is snapped. Almost invisible to the naked eye, this ghostly image comes to the fore on the photo that eventually emerges. The Image Fulgurator received the 2008 Golden Nica in the Interactive Art category.

A New Cultural Advertising Project is an experimental new form of advertisement using T-shirts. In this project, using the Ars Electronica Festival 2008 as its target “product”, the artists break the traditional boundaries of advertising to regain its value, effectiveness, and appeal.

I recommend to go to LINZ in 2009. It is Europe’s cultual capital 2009 and worth seeing during the ARS Electronica festival in Early September.

That’s a drama. Companies who spend on avg € 5000 a head to send their staff to the ad festival in Cannes cannot afford to feed them anymore. Their expense account only includes the booze at Martinez and maybe an espresso - if there is a shortlist nomination. JC Decaux reacted. Thank you, Jean-Claude. Free food and drinks were handed out in stylish plastic to those who normally choose to starve on purpose. The fancy advertising crowd. To show what public space can do for you, here are the best city light examples of the beach showroom - sun tan lotion included in the money-free zone.

On May 10, we shot a scene from my film ‘Wenn Kühe Jacken tragen’ at my old offices MediaCom in the Vienna Twin Towers. My first film, my first shoot, my first experience working with a film crew.

On May 31st, we shot the second time. I came up with the idea of a merged art & advertising installation for Wiener Tafel, an organisation in Vienna that collects food for homeless and fringe groups. I convinced the administrator of that store on Mariahilfer Straße, the busiest shopping street in Vienna to ‘lend’ me his shop for a day and he didn’t even charge for it. He called it: ‘enthusiastic projects need to be supported’. It was a performative act which drew enourmous crowds in front of the store all day. I was pleased, the camera got all the shots we needed and I am happy to say that the efforts paid off. Big time.

My speech in Frankfurt on May 7 at the national communications fair allowed me to see new innovations, gimmicks and also lots of crap. There is not much to be said about energy wasting ideas like that. Brrrrr… Burger King and co. simply havent understood last years trend: to save energy and save our globe.

 I just returned from a speech in Johannesburg. 3 intense days filled with fascinating impressions, 2 handful of very nice lads and 1 conference moment that I will never forget.

You fall asleep in spring and wake up in autumn. And still - the same weather. Johannesburg was greener than I thought. A huge city and no public transport equals expensive taxis. My first impression.

 My first advertising exposure in Joburg made me smile. This:

didn’t even raise my cab driver’s eyebrow. Why? Because Taxi drivers in Johannesburg are advertising over-exposed? Because seeing big boobs is part of their daily life and therefore ignored? When a shipping company in Naples mounted this campaign: …

… the traffic stopped, accidents happened, everything stood still. Maybe Italians have a different relationship to breasts than other nations.

On my way around town I discovered pretty cool non-traditional and creative media campaigs. Coca Cola placed this billboard extremely well. I got stuck in a traffic jam and stared at it for 15 minutes.

Arty power plants. Yeay. Shame though that we Austrians detest atomar energy. We believe in wind mills and the power of water.

And here is our speaker team. No, I was not the only woman who spoke. But I seem to have been the only ones that likes to party. Oh well. South African beef now ranks No. 2 on Daniela’s personal list of favorite spots that have the best meat (after Argentina - of course).

The trip was short, the power cut during the conference exciting and Emmanuelle’s faux-pas with his clip-on microphone (that he carried into the bathroom) hillarious. As my fellow countrymen puts it: South Africa: I’ll be back.