Julia Weist: Reach, 2015-2016

Julia Weist is librarian and neo-conceptual artist. It is in a 17th century publication from the New York Public Library, that she came across the term “parbunkells”. At the time, Weist remarked that it did not have one single online entry supported by existing search-engines. In June 2015, this prompted the launch of what almost appears as an advertising campaign “selling” the word to the masses. Printed and displayed in a gigantic billboard in Queens (NY), the work initiated thousands of public reactions, unprecedentedly boosting the online presence of the term. With this work the form of an advertising gimmick, Weist raises questions about public engagement as well as about the commercial potential and freshness of a blank canvas on the net.

Artwork: https://www.google.com/#q=parbunkells, http://work.deaccession.org/reach/
Artist: http://work.deaccession.org