L.A.-based artist Matthew LaPenta is back at it again with his Facebook-trolling art, but this time he’s brought it directly to the source: posting up on the social media giant’s campus.
In an homage to Orwell’s 1984 character, LaPenta has dedicated his latest piece to Facebook founder and fluent speaker of Chinese Mark Zuckerberg by plastering his face on homemade streets signs that declare “Big Brother Is Watching You.”
LaPenta has been making Facebook-related art for the past three years, including an exhibit at an L.A. gallery in 2013. But he said he’s much prouder of his latest incarnations, which can be seen in the gallery above.
“I think I’ve honed it in more with these and gave them better context,” he said.
LaPenta dropped by the campus two weekends ago to post four other pieces, and this is where they were all installed:
– Big Brother was installed next to the construction site for the new headquarters
– Neighborhood Watch was installed down the street at the entrance to Menlo Park
– T-shirts were handed out at Silicon Valley Art Fair
– Mutilated Thumb was installed at the Menlo Park Skate Park
– Share/Take was hung at the entrance to their office
LaPenta said he used different types of materials for the various pieces, with some “designed on the computer and then printed onto aluminum at a sign factory. Some are traditional canvases with acrylic paint. And the t-shirts are screen printed and hand painted.”
It’s unclear if his pieces are still up.
“I got fed up with my own addiction and the way Facebook treats its users,” LaPenta told ANIMAL in an email.
“The funny thing is I still use Facebook as a communication platform, I just don’t believe in some of their practices and the way they actively exploit their users.”
