In explaining a layered fading ad, I’ve always used the term pentimento, a painterly term that describes evidence of a previous work on a canvas seen through an existing upper layer. Viewing these works under varied wavelengths of light, like ultraviolet, infrared and even X-ray scanning, can aid scientists in deciphering both palimpsests and pentimenti. The use of the word pentimento in “street and photography” has also been cited on the Internet as a term “used in a modern sense to describe the appearance of the sides of buildings with painted advertising.” Often when newer ads are painted over older ads, “the paint wears away to reveal the older layers.” Examples of this can be seen in the work I did in the Netherlands in 1998 while photographing fading ads in Amsterdam¹. – From the Fading Ads of NYC (History Press, 2011) © Frank H. Jump
Coca-Cola
Coca-Cola and Mecca Smokes Pentimento – Bleecker & Carmine Streets, NYC – 1997
Coca-Cola – Dante Ferretti: Design and Construction for the Cinema September 28, 2013 – February 9, 2014 @ MoMA
Dante Ferretti: Design and Construction for the Cinema examines design practice for film through the lens of Ferretti’s work, which is distinguished by the structural role it plays in the collaborative process of cinema art. As digital technology transforms the way films are staged, replacing the real with the virtual, Ferretti’s work comes at what may be the end of a 100-year-long tradition of full-scale, studio-built environments for films. This exhibition also serves to document this transitioning of cinema practice through its selection and organization of drawings, large-scale installations, and digital projection. – MoMA
Featured Fade – Chicago’s Andersonville Coca-Cola Sign Revisited – Katie Levin
This ghost sign was recently uncovered at 5438 N. Clark in Andersonville (a couple blocks north of Berwyn, near the Brown Elephant resale shop) when a building adjacent to it was torn down. This sign is believed to be over 100 years old. – Katie Levin
Katie- Michael Hirsch recently provided a link to your image through the Forgotten Chicago FB Page. The ad was featured by FAB earlier this year when it was brought to my attention by Mike Merritt who shot it last summer. I love how the “deck” has progressed. Lucky neighbors.
- Previously posted on February 4, 2013 – Courtesy of Mike Merritt – Redship dot com – Fading Ad Blog