Détournement: Signs Of The Times

"A détournement is a detour of sorts, but not so much along the scenic route as over the tougher road that goes more directly to the truth...Since coined by the Lettrist International in the 1950s, it has served various generations as a common strategy by which to subvert consensus visual language so as to turn the expressions of capitalist culture against themselves. The most typical folkloric version we encounter of a détournement is when someone writes a word at the bottom of a stop sign, so that with say just three letters this mundane road command might read “Stop War." - curator

If you happen to be in NY, go check out the new show at the Jonathan Levine Gallery. A group of artists have taken iconic signs and transformed then with accents of their personal style. 

At Toniq, we are constantly discovering the meanings of global symbols and creating our own unique set for brands through the study of semiotics. This a show that brings light to some of the more common signs that surround us in our everyday world that perhaps we walk by and ignore. These artists make us stop and look again and make us think how iconic these brands have become, yet most of us are numb to their regular presence. 

So take a lunch break or make it a Toniq Trek to go see the show. The show runs through August 25th, 2012.