AIDS activism through billboards; Untitled (1991) 3 Favorite 

Practitioner: 

Date: 

Feb 20 1991

Location: 

New York City

In 1991, Gonzalez-Torres lost his partner Ross to AIDS (the artist would face the same fate in 1996). In a tragic and highly personal tribute to Ross, Gonzalez-Torres took a picture of his still-indented empty bed - an image of universal intimacy and loss - and placed it on two dozen commercial billboard spaces throughout New York.

External sources: 

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/1370716/Felix-Gonzalez-Torres
http://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/04/04/printout-felix-gonzalez-torres
Posted by KerryLynch on Feb 5 2013

Effectiveness

How does this project help?

Activates (people)Energizes and organizes people into action. Can include emotion work
Amplifies (issue or campaign)Brings public and political attention to an issue or campaign.  Can include prefigurative action, making the invisible visible.
Does nothing (at all)Doesn't really have an impact, beyond possibly expressing the artist-activist's dissatisfaction with the world.
Shifts (culture)Shifts the cultural landscape in order to imagine and enable change.
Strengthens (community)Strengthens, builds and celebrates community through ritual and/or symbol.