---
type: concept
title: Litfaßsäule as Mass Medium
tags: [urban-art, communication, mass-media, cdfi]
related: [public-art-seminar, artistic-mediation]
created: 2026-07-13
updated: 2026-07-13
sources: ["output_cdfi/cdfi_uni_greifswald_de_bildende_kunst_aktivitaeten_publicart.md"]
---

# Litfaßsäule as Mass Medium

The **Litfaßsäule** (advertising column) is treated within the [[public-art-seminar]] not merely as a piece of street furniture, but as a powerful mass medium capable of shaping the collective consciousness of a city.

## Theoretical Framework
The use of the Litfaßsäule in contemporary art is based on several key premises:
- **Breaking Automated Perception:** In a modern city, pedestrians often experience "automated perception," where commercial advertisements are filtered out as background noise. By replacing these with unexpected art, the medium is "re-activated," forcing the viewer to shift from a passive consumer to an active participant.
- **Permeability of Public and Private:** The medium is used to explore how mass media makes the boundaries between public and private spaces permeable, as personal or political statements are broadcast on a scale usually reserved for corporations.
- **Democratization of Access:** Because Litfaßsäulen are located in high-traffic areas, they serve as a platform for "cultural participation" (Kulturelle Teilhabe), reaching people who may never enter a traditional gallery or museum.

## Artistic Techniques
- **Adbusting:** The practice of subverting corporate advertising to critique commercialism.
- **Urban Intervention:** Using the physical scale and placement of the column to create site-specific meanings (e.g., placing a digital error message on a column in front of a computing center).
- **360-Degree Plastering:** Creating immersive, wrap-around visual experiences that transform the column into a three-dimensional sculpture.
