Add-Art: Art replaces ads

Add-Art is a Firefox addon that replaces website advertising with art. Created with support from Eyebeam and Rhizome, Add-Art releases new art shows every two weeks and strives to feature contemporary artists and curators.

The plugin works alongside AdBlock Plus, which blocks online ads, and simply replaces that blank space with art images. AdBlock Plus is the most popular of the thousands of available add-ons for Firefox with 18 million total downloads (as of May 2008) and over 250,000 downloads per week.

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 is supported by add-art.org which provides 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 need to be cropped to standard banner sizes or can be custom made for the project. One group of images is shown per page. The curatorial duty is passed among curators through recommendations, word of mouth, and solicitations to the Add-Art site.

With the overwhelming popularity of adblockers, if Add-Art were to attract 5% of existing users, the numbers would be in the hundreds of thousands. Add-Art can bring contemporary art to the desktops of all types of people at home and in their workplace – all over the world.

Would you like to see art instead of ads as you browse sites online? Go to add-art.org and download the plugin for your Firefox browser now.

Completed with the help of opensource developers including: