The Bubble Project is the brainchild of designer Ji Lee, who has printed more than 30,000 Bubble stickers to place on top of ads all over New York in order to convert the corporate monologue into a true public dialogue. The Bubble Project has organically grown into a movement that spans the globe, as the public becomes increasingly fed-up with the pervasiveness of ads in every nook and cranny of daily life. As he walks the city, whenever he sees an ad ripe for commentary, he puts up a Bubble. A day or two later, with camera in hand, he returns to the ads and most of the time the Bubbles are filled-in.
Where did the original idea for the Bubble Project come from?
Four years ago, I was working as an art director at a global advertising agency in New York. The agency offered a good salary, friendly colleagues, easy hours, great benefits and a glamorous business card. I even had my own window office with a view, yet I was deeply frustrated. That’s because even though I came up with innovative advertising ideas, they ended up always being killed due to the conservative mentality pervading corporate culture. Clients and agencies tend to shy away from trying new approaches, because new means taking risks. In general, the initial excitement clients have over new ideas quickly give way to fear. Even if a good idea manages to escape the agency walls, it will likely go through a barrage of testing to make sure the ad appeals to everyone. My experience is what usually comes out of this stage is work geared towards the lowest common denominator, which in reality is liked by no one.
After four years at trying to make good ideas see the light of the day, I realised I can’t depend on others to make anything happen. The only way was to do everything on my own: creation, funding, production, and distribution. I wanted to create a simple device which would instantly transform the way people saw the ads. The speech-bubble sticker was the solution.
Was there a particular poster that triggered it off?
No ad in particular. I feel 99.9% of the ads on the streets are crap and I feel no connection to them whatsoever. Therefore they are great for bubbling. I think a lot of people share this sentiment towards ads in general. Bubbles instantly transform corporate monologues into public dialogues.
Is it spreading out of New York into other areas?
It has become a worldwide phenomenon. There are bubblers from all over the world. There are people who are setting up their own Bubble Project sites: progettobolla.com (Italy), proyectoburbuja.com.ar (Argentina) plus Romanian and Australian branches are on their way.
Where is the furthest away that you’ve heard of a bubble being pasted?
I’ve gotten emails off bubblers from Iceland, South Africa, Turkey, India, Japan and the list goes on.
How can people get involved?
Anyone can download the bubble templates, print them on their home printer and start having fun. They can also send the bubble picture to info@thebubbleproject.com so they can be included in the site. Under thebubbleproject.com, there are online bubbles where people can fill in the bubbles through “The Bubbled Person of the Week”.
Have you been caught in the act of putting up the stickers?
Bubbling is considered vandalism, therefore illegal. I’ve received a few tickets.
The project is based around a D.I.Y. ethic – is it a key aim of yours to get as many people involved as possible?
Yes. More bubblers the better. This project would be nothing if there weren’t participants filling in the bubbles. It’s an open platform for self-expression without censorship and I’ve learned people have a lot to say about a lot of different things.
What experiences have other people had from putting up their bubbles?
I have started to notice people are placing their own bubbles with their own messages. Sometimes they’re political, sometimes they’re artistic, sometimes it’s so obscure I don’t know what they’re about. The wonderful aspect of this project is its infinitely wide range of topics and interests it opens up, like life itself.
Obviously freedom of speech is a big part of the project but has there been any bubbles that you have personally taken issue with?
I have no personal issue with any responses. By default, any response is a valuable response. Even the sexist, anti-gay or taggings are valuable, because they’re part of the freedom of speech this project offers. I may not agree with some of the views or expressions in the bubbles and I do edit them for the website and for the book: ‘Talk Back: The Bubble Project’, but this doesn’t mean I’m against certain kinds of expressions. Once the bubbles are up, I have no control over them and that’s wonderful. They become something about the people who are looking at the bubbled ad.
What advice/key tips would you give to a new budding ‘bubbler’?
Have fun and be safe!
Originally appeared in Fused magazine issue 28
