As part of his “Autostoricizzazione” [self-historicization] project, the mail artist printed thousands of stickers. He promoted an imaginary exhibition in Venice on the occasion of his 100th birthday. The stickers were distributed worldwide from 1974.
Lender: Archive Center for Artist Publications in the Weserburg Museum for Modern Art.
The international sticker campaign was initiated by the skate punk Fairey - inspired by John Carpenter's film “They Live” (1988). There, the main character uses special glasses to expose outdoor advertising as a national brainwashing of aliens who demand obedience (OBEY).
Lender: Archive Double-H.
The earliest examples of illegal stickers are the postage stamp-sized Polish anti-Nazi stickers placed by “Little Sabotage” resistance fighters. The stickers were called Motyle [butterflies]. The term shows the proximity to the flyer - before it was stuck, the sticker was a small leaflet.
Photo: Vlepkronika Archive.