Pixelator subverts outdoor video billboard screens by transforming them into a beautiful colorful array of 45 blinking, color-changing squares.

The displays are completely unauthorized performance art by people making a statement about advertising pollution in public space and the inaccessibility of these screens to artists or non-commercial uses..

Click here to see the video and learn how to make your own.

This is a simple, wonderful mixture of Pixel Art and Street Art, found by PicoCool in NYC. Does anyone have more examples of pixel or virtual art invading physical space?

MSNBC reported last week that Internet ad spending will overtake TV in the UK by the end of 2009 -- becoming the biggest advertising medium in Britain, according to a report published by the IAB and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

And who stands to gain the most with this growth?

Google of course.

Rory Cellan-Jones, a blogger for the BBC, calculates that Google will overtake the ITV television network as the biggest seller of advertising in the UK this year. (ITV sold about £1.5 billion of advertising last year.)

Morgan Stanley estimates Google’s total advertising revenue will be $21.9 billion globally. Excluding the payments it makes to companies that display its ads, Google’s total ad revenue will be $15.7 billion. Time Warner, the largest media company in the world, earned $8.8 billion in advertising revenue last year, and Viacom had $4.7 billion in ad revenue last year. No one comes close to Google.

ChasNote points out the above chart comparing 2006 to 2007 ad dollars in the US. Online growth is exploding while Broadcast TV, Radio and Newspaper drop.

More than just ad dollars following a trend or digital hype, the growth is being driven due to real changes in behavior: 1) Rising number of people online, 2) the introduction of cheap laptops and 3) the growing popularity TV shows on the Internet.

Readers of Brain Sells will know our fascination with all things Japanese, so after writing about Reverse Graffiti we had to share a bit about this construction site in Tokyo that has been turned into a canvas for great illustration.

I've been told that the average life of a building in Tokyo is just 17 years. With that constant redevelopment happening these white walled construction fences -- called karikakoi -- are a common scene. In Japan there is an effort o beautify these urban landscapes and surfaces, using them as canvases for installations, art, and illustrations.

Could brands do more with these spaces beyond plastering up wild postings and billboard ads? Could we create site specific installations that tie into the surrounding space? Could they be interactive in a useful way?

This reminds me of a project Goodby, Silverstein did for HP at the National Galleries in London during its East Wing refurbishment in 2003. Titled "The Adventures of Yellow", HP told the story of Van Gogh's Chair by printing out a massive 60 meter-long piece that was posted to the outside facade of the site. Every few months a new piece was created for another work of art from the Galleries based on a different color.

PingMag has more examples of creative uses of these spaces in Tokyo.

This mural was created inside the Broadway Tunnel in San Francisco by British-based artist Paul Curtis using a technique called reverse graffiti or clean tagging. With the aid of San Francisco police and public works officials, Curtis spent the night blasting away at the years of grime with a high-powered water cannon.

This is a nice example of otherwise dead space being transformed into something enjoyable. Tide Detergent used this effect on sidewalks recently to demonstrate their cleaning power in everyday life.

Here's a link to more photos of this mural Flickr.

As someone fed up with people who order silly named drinks like "Tall Skinny Double Frappucino with Soy Milk, Whip & Pumpkin Sprinkles" from Starbucks, I smiled at this new campaign for McDonald's "UnSnobby Coffee".

The work plays goes after Starbucks, playing off their language, and positions itself as a real simple coffee and not yuppie-laden pretentious coffee drinking.

The site is simple and quick, it doesn't try to be more than it is or create some big fancy experience or story for something as simple as coffee.

It does feature a "Snobby Coffee Intervention" where you can fill a madlibs style form making fun of your friends Venti Latte Snobbery.

China-based Chocolate Agency has created a concept piece of electronic jewelry-turned-interactive mobile device. The slap bracelet displays images and is powered by the natural movement of your arms.

The device is made from E-paper, which is a technology in development that allows for bendable, flexible, paper-like materials to display video and digital imagery.

Here's a short video of the bracelet concept. Source: PSFK

This email was sent by a PR rep to a blogger to get coverage of a new BMW video. Instead of a long PR pitch about why the video or story is interesting, they kept it short and to the point: "Google Rampenfest". And the top organic result is the BMW website and video.

Source: Adlab

Media multitasking — watching TV while surfing the internet — are common among online adults in the United States and Britain, finds a survey by Harris Interactive.

The survey found that its not an "either/or" between TV and the web. People use the web as an accompaniment to TV:

• 78 percent of US online adults have gone online while watching TV.
• 35 percent report doing so often or always.
• 62 percent look for content unrelated to what they're watching on TV.
• 25 percent seek info specific to programs, such as profiles of actor, products from ads or on a show, and upcoming events.