Ideas for a new art world – The White Pube’s ‘Your Space or Mine’ billboard project

Pictured: Zarina Muhammad

Zarina Muhammad and Gabrielle de la Puente’s (The White Pube) newst collaboration with the BUILDHOLLYWOOD family has been self-described as millennial Jenny Holzer: utilising  advertising, billboards and large scale installation to force us to absorb something of substance for once  on our daily walks, or dreary commutes. This three month-long collaboration will see new posters and billboards every two weeks in both cities. TWP’s mini manifesto addresses systemic injustices and inequalities in the art world, all of which are not incredibly radical but rather pinpoint how much things need to change in order to update the ‘overly stale, pale and male state’ of the arts.

Initially meeting at Central Saint Martins, Gabrielle and Zarina launched TWP in 2015 forming an iconic, loud and accessible voice online with reviews, essays and now podcasts that has completely shattered the outdated stereotype of the art critic. Notably for me, the format of their writing is one that allows the wider audience to be included and ultimately remove any unnecessary nonsense and elitism.

‘Your Space Or Mine’ is a collaboration series created by the BULIDHOLLYWOOD family which includes JACK, JACK ARTS and DIABOLICAL. This range of out-of-home agencies for creatives and the music industry continues to allow artists and creatives to have a platform on the street.

Credit: TWP

One example of the colourful billboards includes “001: if I were the Tate, I would simply remove my racist paintings x” which is most likely  referring to the disgustingly long overdue outcry to remove the racist mural in the Rex Whistler restaurant at Tate Britain. When put in simple text and plastered on streets across the capital and Liverpool, it seems glaringly obvious that  big institutions like the Tate know what they have to do in order to fix these massive injustices. Perhaps the notion of TWP’s gestural public intervening collab hints at how much needs to change within the sector as a whole?

The third billboard, “003: Curators should ask the public what they want to see and what they think galleries and museums should be used for” demonstrates that TWP’s mini-manifesto for a fairer art world isn’t groundbreaking but rather shows that the art world is far from perfect – it’s common sense. With the rise of more artist-led spaces and initiatives, it is indisputable that traditional and linear forms of curatorial practice shouldn’t hold hierarchy over alternative ways of exhibiting, yet sometimes it still feels this way.

Will sticking up posters next to bus stops and tube stations solve the frustratingly blatant inequalities in the art world? Of course not. However, public art is a proven catalyst for stirring anger and making actual changes. Accessibility is key for a new art world and to see these progressive mantras whilst on a daily walk is a step forward. COVID and lockdown has drastically altered the way artists, curators, galleries and museums have functioned within the last year with a specific move to online and social media as doors remain shut. Collaborations like ‘Your Space Or Mine’ hold so much power in 2021 because  it takes seconds to snap a pic of these billboards and share widely – maybe this means we have more control as the viewer than ever before?