This is one of a set of six paper cups designed for Imprint, a public art project organised by the Print Center, Philadelphia, in 2002. Artists were invited to produce imagery for billboards, bus shelters and magazine inserts as well as cups. Here the throwaway paper cup is transformed by print into a modest work of art, which was used in selected cafés in the city during the project.

While some of the imagery reflects the artists’ characteristic concerns, other artists took the opportunity to look more closely at the power of public advertising. For example, James Mills’ use of the repeated words ‘blah/blah/blah’ provokes questions about the insidious methods by which advertisers attract people and manipulate their thinking. The phrase also suggests that advertising becomes repetitive and invisible unless it resorts to shock tactics.