Shopdropping

Shopdropping, according to Brooklyn-based photographer, Ryan Watkins-Hughes, strives to reclaim the visual space that we encounter on a daily basis. Similar, he says, to the way street art stakes a claim to public space for self expression, so Shopdropping subverts commercial space for artistic use. Essentially, artworks are planted in store displays and generally appear available for sale alongside the regular merchandise.

The concept is creating quite a buzz in urban art circles and was recently the topic of an article in CNN, Money

Ryan has put out an open call to create a large collaborative Shopdropping installation based upon his technique of modifying can packages.

However, any product can be shopdropped. In one Shopdropping project, a fake Mussolini action figure was packaged in a box by artist Packard Jennings; the box advertised other fictional characters that notably included Wal Mart founder Sam Walton.