This Man Gets Shot At And Bloodied By Violent Movie Posters. Why Does He Do It?

You see them every time you go down to the subway. Giant posters and billboards advertising violence in movies and television programs. They have guns. They have arrows. They have swords. And they are pointed at you. It's sort of amazing how we take all of these for granted. One man, an artist, decided to remind us about it in a violent but hilarious way.

Jon Burgerman, a New York City-based artist came up with a series of photos he refers to as "interventions" that shows him posing in front or besides subway ad posters and being shot at and bloodied.

In a post titled "Head Shots" on his website, Mr. Burgerman has the following to say about the series: "An ongoing series of interventions staged in public against the backdrop of advertising panels. The performances are photographed, digitally added to and then documented and shared online."

So those bloody things you're seeing in the photos below aren't blood (real or fake). They've been digitally added. Nonetheless, the pictures make a very powerful statement about the violence that are present in today's movies and television shows.

In front of Chicago P.D., a television drama series on NBC

In front of Skyfall

In front of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

In front of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

In front of Chicago PD, a television drama series on NBC.

Why does he do it? What's the purpose of this kind of art?

Mr. Burgerman tells the Gothamist: "Where possible I will continue—the project is part of an on-going part of my practice of what I call a 'quiet intervention', where subtle, often cheap, non-permanent actions drastically (and sometimes comically) alter the reading of a signifier, object or situation. It's my belief that through these playful, creative acts, Art can act as an agent to change the world, by being the catalysis to allow people to change their worlds in really simple ways. The goal with head shots was just to make people look again at and re-evaluate the type of imagery we have no choice of avoiding in our public spaces."

He also tells Yahoo! Movies: "The idea for this project came to me for two reasons: 1 - With each reoccurring high-profile tragedy in the US involving shootings, I find myself being evermore paranoid and vigilant when I leave my apartment - my senses attuned to seeking out and avoiding any potential trouble."

All photos used here are by Jon Burgerman. Visit his website at jonburgerman.com. You can read his blog here. See more of his work here. You can connect with him through his Facebook page. Check out prints and other stuff he sells on burgerplex.com.