JR

‘Can art change the world? Maybe not in one year, that’s the beginning. But maybe we should change the question. Can art change people’s lives? From what I’ve seen this year, yes’ - JR

Supercool French artist JR has just this week opened a new photobooth in Gallery Perrotin, Hong Kong as part of the Inside Out project. It’s a really straightforward idea: have your photo taken, collect your four-foot poster, paste it where you wish.  
JR himself laughs at its simplicity: ‘paper and glue, as easy as that!’.

Connaught Road footbridge, Hong Kong

As with all of the photobooths, the Hong Kong photobooth is open to the public and free. So far over 100,000 posters have been printed (2/100,000 are mine, from the photobooth at the Pompidou last year). JR is only the facilitator of what is really a global, collective movement. He passes the project both literally and metaphorically into the hands of others. Inside Out is at once a celebration of human diversity and an investigation into the impact of images in different every day contexts.

In his TED talk from March 2012, JR demonstates the international nature of his work and how the project can be and has been adapted to the specific political and social situations of different countries. JR's enthusiasm is infectious. There aren’t enough visual art talks on TED. (I must have watched the Vik Muniz one about ten times)

I LOVE JR!

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

McEwan Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland