AddArt is a Firefox extension which replaces advertising images on web pages with art images from a curated database.
Before & After
Before: After:
Of the 100+ add-ons available for Firefox, "adblockers" are the most popular. The most current, Adblock Plus , has over 4 million downloads since Jan 2006 (currently around 150,000/week). It's predecessor, Adblock, has been downloaded over 8 million times. These extensions work by preventing advertising images from downloading and replacing the ads with blank space. Their popularity has risen as pop-up ads, banner ads, and ads incorporating sound and animation have permeated the internet.
For many, replacing ads with blank space would be enough. AddArt attempts to do something more interesting than just blocking ads - it turns your browser into an art gallery. Every time you visit the New York Times online or check the weather you'll also see a spattering of images by a young contemporary artist.
The project will be supported by an small website providing information on the current artists and curator, along with a schedule of past and upcoming AddArt shows. Each 2 weeks will include 5-8 artists selected by emerging and established curators. Images will have to be cropped to standard banner sizes or can be custom made for the project. Artists can target sites (such as every ad on FoxNews.com) and/or default to any page on the internet with ads. One artist will be shown per page. The curatorial duty will be passed among curators through recommendations, word of mouth, and solicitations to the AddArt site.
With the overwhelming popularity of adblockers, if AddArt were to attract 5% of existing users, the numbers would be in the hundreds of thousands. AddArt can bring contemporary art to the desktops of all types of people at home and in their workplace - all over the world.
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