'I love you earth' + 'mars sucks': two billboards to celebrate earth day 2021

to celebrate world earth day 2021, well-known artist yoko ono and LA-based creative agency activista have each launched billboard artworks, featuring quotes that highlight today’s environmental crisis. standing in various locations across the UK, the billboard series by yoko ono makes a simple yet bold declaration: ‘I love you earth’. meanwhile, activista has installed a billboard outside spaceX’s california headquarters which reads ‘mars sucks’, as an attempt to criticize elon musk’s plans on colonizing the red planet and to emphasize that the earth should be prioritized.

image courtesy of serpentine galleries

consisting of black text on a white background, yoko ono‘s large-scale billboards state: ‘I love you earth’. in collaboration with serpentine galleries, the pieces have been installed in numerous UK cities, including london, liverpool, glasgow, and manchester. the message also serves as a reference to ono’s homonymous song, which includes the lyrics: ‘I love you, earth, you are beautiful / I love the way you are / I know I never said it to you / but I wanna say it now.’

‘there are so many of us in the world who are now awakened, ready to act to save our world,’ the artist shares on her instagram. ‘so let’s work together to save this planet. together. that’s how we will change the world. we change, and the world changes.’

 
image courtesy of serpentine galleries

creative agency activista placed its billboard reading ‘mars sucks. — earth’, right outside spaceX’s campus as a comment on the company’s vision to create a self-sustaining colony on mars, within the next 50 to 100 years. the piece was installed ahead of earth day 2021, and expresses disappointment over musk’s focus on mars rather than the restoration of earth. the billboard was sponsored by numerous environmental groups including greenpeace, world wildlife, surfrider, and the EDF.

‘what doesn’t suck? earth. but the way we treat it frankly, sucks,’ activista explains on twitter. ‘and then, you dream of mars. a hellhole. a barren, desolate, wasteland you can’t set foot on fast enough. great, we got to mars. now let’s prioritize earth.

image courtesy of activista

project info:

name: I love you earth
artist: yoko ono

name: mars sucks
creative agency: activista