“This Is Techno” billboards appear in Detroit in Jeff Mills’ Axis Records campaign

Several billboards emblazoned with the words “This Is Techno” have popped up in Detroit as part thanks to Jeff Mills’ Axis Records.

Visible in four locations across the city, the billboards depict two futuristic images side by side. According to a press statement written by Mills, they are intended to provoke discussion and “sharpen our sense to detect what is Techno and what is not.”

The Detroit techno icon added: “It can also be used as method to translate and decipher meaning without verbal or textual context – illusive to Technology and the ways we commonly use to communicate.”

The series is likened to the Rorschach test, “which is designed to examine what your mind recognises”.

“These two comparable images are often at different angles of the same experience, both are elements that point to an unseen answer, a third image which can only lie inside your imagination. The imagination tries to understand their relationship and thus, stretches the possibilities. A stretched imagination is the goal. Images are not taken literally but indirectly, like parts of a puzzle. This Is Techno requires you to use your sense to know, to build something.”

The appearance of these billboards comes after several months of Mills sharing similar images with the caption “This Is Techno” on his Instagram account. 

The billboards can be found at…

1. Woodward Ave. s/o w and Canfield St. W/S/F/N 

2. Jefferson Ave E/O Orleans St. S/S/F/ NE 

3. Woodward Ave S/O Burroughs St. W/A/F/NW 

4. Gratiot Ave. and Jay NE/S?F/S. 

Mills is due to headline Detroit’s Movement festival on Saturday, 24th May, replacing Carl Cox who has postponed his appearance to 2026.

Earlier this year, Mills released a new album with his jazz fusion project Spiral Deluxe via Axis Records. ‘The Love Pretender’, which features an appearance from late French guitarist Sylvain Luc, is the the fourth release from the group.

Revisit DJ Mag North America’s 2024 cover interview with Mills here.