Marco Bevilacqua and Ot Pascoe for DOPE. Photo by Luna Park.

Last month, the global activist community was rocked by the passing of writer and anthropologist David Graeber. In popular media, David was probably best-known for exploring the modern phenomenon of bullshit jobs, or for coining the term “the 99 percent.” He was a writer and an academic, but also an activist, a firm believer in direct action, and (by all accounts) a wonderful person. Our friend Molly Crabapple’s tribute in The New York Review of Books says more.

In the wake of David’s passing, the wonderful folks at Dog Section Press’ DOPE Magazine reached out with an idea: Would we like to celebrate his legacy by getting our hands a bit dirty? Scottish designers Marco Bevilacqua and Ot Pascoe designed a poster, and it’s been popping up in bus shelters and payphones in the United States and Europe. Of course, we got on board.

Marco told us, “David Graeber was a huge inspiration to many. His pioneering writing and views on the world and capitalism were insightful, provoking, and witty. A true radical amongst his peers. When I was asked to draw him for DOPE Magazine and Art In Ad Places, I thought it would be a fantastic way to honour David’s legacy and take his message back to the streets. Personally, I love subvertising and everything it stands for in helping to fight against the constant barrage of toxic and degrading messages, showing people instead that art can do so much more than how it is generally commercially used. I hope this poster inspires and also pays tribute to the big man.”

Marco and Ot selected the perfect quote of David’s for this particular sort of memorial: “Direct action is, ultimately, the defiant insistence on acting as if one is already free.” Is there a better way to sum up the logic of ad takeovers? The poster certainly captures David’s spirit, and, to echo Marco, we hope that the method of installation does as well.