Painting Political Graffiti With Light

Johnny Fusion writes "American Graffiti has found an interesting way to plaster political messages across large buildings and doing no damage. They use light. The website is a little vague on the technology involved. The front page refers to the projection as a "light board", and the press release says they use high-powered digital projectors. The end result is a 40' x 120' billboard of light that is even less permanent than a bicycle spraying chalk messages. Despite the name, George Lucas has nothing to do with it, so you can be assured that the slogans will not be retroactively changed after the election."

doh

[m0rphin3]

What's the point of lighting up an empty parking lot and near-empty streets? Not very brave, these guys... If they did it on the White House, I'd be impressed.

I'm not an American, so I wonder about the following points: What would happen to these guys if they got 'caught'? What laws would they be breaking?

Re:doh

[dykofone]

Reminds me of when FHM projected Gail Porter's rear-side on the Houses of Parliament [bbc.co.uk]. Though I think they got permission from local authorities.

Damn I wish America wasn't so stuck up, we'd totally flip our shit if a girl's posterior was displayed on any government building. The FCC wouldn't stop till it had fined the individual photons from the projector.

My comments

[Antony-Kyre]

I wonder if there are any laws regarding taking a projector and showing a publically released movie perhaps on the White House? Say Fahrenheit 9/11, if it were to be publically released.

I'm real curious about the laws concerning this. It's true that it doesn't leave damage, but still, you're trespassing on someone's property with light.

Re:My comments

[irc.goatse.cx troll]

You'd need redistribution rights, else the mpaa would go after you. beyond that? I have no clue. I assume it would be worse if you hit any windows than if you didnt, but really, its a tough call. I assume theres laws against it though, else anyone could buy huge stadium flood lights and aim it right at someones house, potentially even heating up stuff to the point of starting a fire. /IANAL(But I just watched The Practice before posting)

Re:My comments

[kabocox]

I'm real curious about the laws concerning this. It's true that it doesn't leave damage, but still, you're trespassing on someone's property with light.

I'd have to say that I'd sue them if was my property. These people are violating someone else's First admendment rights! If I don't put a message or ad. of some sort on my building, that is a message! They are changing the message that other people's buildings present to the public. These people are fanatics that to be slapped with a large trespassing fin

Re:My comments

[robochan]

I don't know about the legal aspects of it, but it's already being done [ericsiegmund.com] regardless. It's called a Guerilla Drive-In [google.com]

pretty cool.

[gl4ss]

though, university students around the world have done this before.

but with porn. heheeehehe.

Reminds me of...

[Gallvs]

... batman [imdb.com]

"Kerry is a moron" in the sky

[Anonymous Coward]

nice, so the technology is here and we can finally project in the sky,

"Kerry is a moron"

(as if god made his decisition :-)

sorry guys i don't wanna be offensive, but it speaks from my heart..

.. and by the way

== SAT TESTS ==
George W. Bush -> 1260
John Kerry -> 1190

so its official anyway

Re:"Kerry is a moron" in the sky

[isorox]

== SAT TESTS ==
George W. Bush -> 1260
John Kerry -> 1190

So Bush is more likely to vote for Kerry and vice versa?

Bush is a cheater.

[Doc Ruby]

Bush cheated on his SAT.

Re:Bush is a cheater.

[Doc Ruby]

And he killed Superman [cnn.com].

Re:Bush is a cheater.

[Doc Ruby]

See ya at the polls, fascists.

Re:"Kerry is a moron" in the sky

[learn fast]

Wow, I'm smarter than both of them. Vote for me!

(Stupidity has nothing to do with IQ or even SAT score. It has to do with how well-informed you are. [pipa.org])

Re:"Kerry is a moron" in the sky

[GTRacer]

Me -> 1320 (690 apiece)

So can I be Prez now? Oh wait, I have a conscience...

GTRacer
- Sick of voting against someone. Who's worth voting *for*?

Re:"Kerry is a moron" in the sky

[benhocking]

Me -> 1320 (690 apiece)

You must have missed this one:

690 * 2 =

• (a) 1320
• (b) 1380
• (c) 960
• (d) all of the above

Sorry, couldn't resist. :)

Re:"Kerry is a moron" in the sky

[GTRacer]

Y'know what's funny (and sad)? As SOON as I saw I had a reply, I knew why. The correct answer is (b).

Good thing typing skills aren't part of the SATs!

GTRacer
- Must play more "Typing of the Dead"

Re:"Kerry is a moron" in the sky

[ConceptJunkie]

1380 and that was with a 780. We don't need no steenkeeng English.

And this was before they dumbed it down.

By that measure I should be emperor of the world.

(I don't know if the 1320 is wrong or the 690... it could be a tie).

-1 Pointless.

Re:Wrong score

[siriuskase]

Bush's best grade was in Japanese????

Re:"Kerry is a moron" in the sky

[Alzheimers]

George W. Bush -> 1260
John Kerry -> 1190

Al Z. Heimers -> 1370 (650m+720v)

Vote for the Z! Vote for Me!

This is OLD

[Pig Hogger]

Protesters have been using laser-projected slogans on the mountains around Davos many years ago in Switzerland [villagevoice.com].

Re:Another Kerry Ad As News

[Johnny Fusion]

Why is it that the summary only mentions "political messages" when it is simply partisan messages for one side?

Because I wrote the summary to be about the technology used, not the message. It is the novel use of technology that I thought would have slashdot appeal.

This is just another example of slashdot shilling so hard for their side. Didn't Taco say this section was going to be fair?

You can't win if you don't play. Submit something interesting that Bush supporters are doing that you would think wo

Bush is the most disliked US president in history.

[Futurepower(R)]

They are not just painting political graffiti with light. They are against Bush.

It's unprecedented: There are 44 well-funded groups against Bush. There are more than 3 movies and more than 35 books about Bush Administration corruption. [futurepower.org]

Magazines like The Nation are against Bush: 100 Facts and 1 Opinion -- The Non-Arguable Case Against the Bush Administration [thenation.com]

There are hundreds of web sites like Dubya Speak [dubyaspeak.com], that talk about some negative aspect of Bush's personality. Dubya Speak quotes Bush: "It's onl

Re:Bush is the most disliked US president in histo

[Dyolf Knip]

The irony is that probably the only other president despised by so many Americans was Lincoln, one of our best. I guess that explains why Republicans are ready to deify Dubya and proclaim him the greatest president in US history. They must figure that anyone so hated and despised, both at home and abroad, _must_ be worthy of great honor.

Re:Bush is the most disliked US president in histo

[Rayonic]

My my, the anti-Bush crowd is working themselves up into quite a froth. We haven't seen this level of insanity since the 1984 presidential election with Reagan.

Did you read even one of the books?

[Futurepower(R)]

My guess is that you have not read even one of the books about corruption.

--
George W. Bush's brother was shown in a lawsuit deposition on 20/20 [go.com] talking about his prostitutes and using government influence to make money. Family values?

Re:Did you read even one of the books?

[Rayonic]

George W. Bush's brother was shown in a lawsuit deposition on 20/20 talking about his prostitutes and using government influence to make money. Family values?

LOL! This is the saddest attack on a President that I've ever seen. Is Bush his brother's keeper?

And did you give the same amount of attention to Bill Clinton's embarassing half-brother? Or to Jimmy Carter's brother?

hahahah :)

[phyruxus]

Wow, Rayonic must be really scared of this election. His posts have gotten considerably more psychotic over the last few days. We haven't seen such a mindless poseur since.. well, ever.

Hey Rayonic :) How was your orgy with j0nb0y and millahtime? Did you get any or did they make you watch again?

That is the worst segway I have every read.

[sideshow]

They are not just painting political graffiti with light. They are against Bush.

Man, I can't wait until the election is over.

If you truly love your country...

[Futurepower(R)]

If you truly love your country, you will not just enjoy the advantages, you will be there for your country when there are problems.

Re:Gotta love

[Johnny Fusion]

Well one has to do what one must to help get his story on slashdot, right?

Actually, I am a HUGE Lucas fan, and don't get frothy at the mouth over the Special Editions.

For the record, I love Uncle George and support his first ammendment right to film gungans.

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Re:Wow

[Dekks]

People aren't blaming him for the Flu Vaccine shortage, most people are pointing out Bush is against importing drugs from canada, and then says we are short of Flu Vaccines because we were counting on IMPORTS from Britain. Why is it okay to import those but not other drugs? Then again I could point out several Bush supporters who say that Kerry is a communist and God wants Bush to win. Their are insane radicals on both side, you can always find crazy accusations without evidence if you go looking for them.

Beats the hell out of painting it with blood.

[gp310ad]

There was a lot of talk recently about 'osama makes sense'. Well here's some recent sense made of osama.

The New York Post reports [nypost.com] on 2nd pass translations of the recently discussed on /. [slashdot.org] Osama Bin Laden 'terror tape'. It seems that when Osama spoke of states, he was not refering to nation states, but rather those of the USA that would cast electoral votes for Bush. I'm waiting to hear from Kerry on this. It seems he has run a poll. [yahoo.com]

How do people who were planning to vote for Kerry feel about these threa

Re:Beats the hell out of painting it with blood.

[joss]

Now that Osama has endorsed Kerry, people on the right are suddenly taking his words at face value. Osama is normally portrayed as an evil genius, is he really too stupid to know a Kerry endorsement will predictably increase Bush support. So, who does Osama really want for president ? or are republicans going to tell me that Osama should be taken at his word ?

Done decades ago, and actually with some balls.

[a whoabot]

Krzysztof Wodiczko was doing this since the seventies I believe. He projected Third Reich styled swastika emblems onto the South African embassy for one.

But maybe no one could remember how to spell his name so everyone just forgot about it. Seven consonants in a row spells trouble...trzxscrouble.

It's not graffiti though. Graffiti isn't a play with signs and within the code; graffiti is supposed to smash the code.

Interesting food for thought

[exi1ed0ne]

This is cool, but could it be improved with a laser? I've seen some that can produce messages, but does anyone know anythat could produce text and images on such a large scale?

Re:Interesting food for thought

[pkhuong]

A laser would be more like vector graphics, so it's mostly line art only. The persistence of vision would likely be the botteneck, but i guess you could use multiple mirrors. I don't think it'd be better here.

Is it just me...

[kjones692]

or are these guys basically real-world trolls? I mean, I don't like Bush either, but projecting an image of his face with "loser" across the forehead isn't really going to change anyone's mind, or inspire any intelligent discussion... it's just going to piss people off.

Which is probably what this group is aiming for.

My own favorite-Transamerica pyramid with an eye

[randall_burns]

like the one on the dollar bill. Someone did this back in the 70's in San Francisco according to Zach Stewart(and old friend of mine who maintained an office nearby).