Photos courtesy Billboard Art Project
An artist in the U.S. recently created a series of ‘faux’ road signs inspired by the Arab Spring, indicating distances to cities in the Middle East and Africa where populist demonstrations and protests have led to historic political change.
Michele Guieu was born in France, spent her teenage years in Senegal and travelled extensively before moving to San Bernardino, Calif. With her ‘Mileage To’ series of sign images—part of the larger non-profit Billboard Art Project—she highlights the importance of distant cities in countries like Egypt and Libya.
“Living now in the U.S., I really measure the distance between here and anywhere else in the world,” says Guieu. “The billboards put these towns on the American map. I like the idea of surprising the viewer—and that is not easy, given the number of billboards everywhere.”
The Billboard Art Project acquires digital boards normally used for advertising and repurposes them as roadside art.
