MoMA Severs Ties with HappyCorp

A recent post by The Gothamist explains MoMA's final word on the whole PosterBoy alteration of the Atlantic/Pacific project. What I couldn't understand was why MoMA would speak so clearly against the vandalism when to do so would destroy their credibility with those who thought the stunt was interesting. It seems they are receiving a lot of pressure from the MTA and CBS outdoor. If this was the reason they were firing HappyCorp, I thought it a little sheepish of them. Researching more, I read a comment regarding PosterBoy's work on that station and I think it explains why MoMA might not have been game for such fun. It holds up quite well and is reproduced here.

By MisterSparkle on 02/24/2009 at 7:17pm

I wouldn't be surprised to find out that MoMA is involved in this, even if they are denying it. More to the point, though, I don't really understand the intentions of whoever actually vandalized the ads (be it a member of the Poster Boy movement or somebody else).

To a certain degree, I can understand vandalizing ads for large corporations, consumer products and the like in the name of both art and anarchy. But the MoMA ads seem to be largely unobstructed, unadulterated prints of some of their best art work. While I do take issue with MoMA's high admission prices, I respect their fundamental role as a cultural institution and their attempts to draw more visitors to the museum. Therefore, I see no reason to destroy MoMA ads that a) consist of already great artwork and b) have a generally admirable goal (promoting modern art and generating new patrons), especially if the ads will be replaced shortly at MoMA's expense.

To me, this is the height of snarky, holier-than-though post-modern derisiveness because it attacks the very art that gave way to the validation of subversive street art. If the person responsible was working with MoMA, I would be impressed by MoMA's awareness and hope that they might leave the ads as-is or do more work with street/graffiti art in their marketing. If the person was Poster Boy or some other adherent/imitator, he or she clearly has no respect for the art that gave rise to theirs and no sense of purpose and integrity.

More on MoMA's Mashed Up Masterpieces

This post, and all the links contained within, seem to cover all the aspects of the PosterBoy MoMA mashup. My only two cents is, yes HappyCorp knew this was publicity stunt and MoMA is surely happy about that as well. It doesn't ruin the fact that HappyCorp respects PosterBoy his concerns about public space. They did a good thing by championing his work and keeping the outdoor advertising industry furious about their lack of control.

from Gothamist by Jen Carlson

As of Tuesday, Doug Jaeger of HappyCorp was cleverly wording his comments about his and Poster Boy's involvement in the alteration of MoMA's subway ad campaign in Brooklyn, which he developed. According to Jaeger, he met Poster Boy, who he says is more than one person, and that he and some others were in the subway system the night the ads were deconstructed.

The NY Post, not a fan of Poster Boy's work in the past, chimes in today saying that Jaeger has "admitted his responsibility in the bizarre publicity stunt," refused to pin any of it on Poster Boy (who is already facing charges), and allegedly didn't have MoMA's permission to carry out the vandalism. In a statement released yesterday MoMA said, "The museum deplores any kind of vandalism and we are distressed that this happened, did not condone or authorize it and hope it doesn't happen again." (In other words, they love it, it's drawn even more attention to their campaign, but they can't say that because it's totally illegal.)

The museum is keeping mum about their current relationship with HappyCorp, and the fact that they haven't severed ties with them has the MTA "furious," according to the Post. While we haven't heard back from Jaeger about the latest developments, we talked to Jeremy Soffin at the MTA, who told us that even if MoMA and HappyCorp altered their own ads it is still illegal, and that "designing an ad doesn't give him any more right to vandalize than anyone else." The MTA's contractor CBS Outdoor is currently in contact with both parties on the organization's behalf.

While it seems pretty evident that this was the plan all along, the Village Voice is still questioning why the HappyCorp folks went from being so proud of the installation to vandalizing it. Maybe they were just tired of seeing Starry Night? The subway station isn't a dorm room, after all.