Culture Jamming

Culture Jamming is a form of media activism that incorporates the use of advertising language and imagery to subvert the expected advertising messages. Culture Jamming incorporates political and cultural criticism with the conventions of advertising. American artist Barbara Kruger is one of the seminal culture jammers. As a graphic designer for magazines Kruger learnt the techniques of advertising and then began to create art work that critically analysed consumer culture, racisim, sexism and war using conventional advertising signs and symbols. Kruger’s work has been used as a template for jammers over the years, to see examples of Kruger’s work. Culture Jamming comes in many guises and accomodates a multitude of subcultural practices such as billboard alteration, media hoaxs, fake ads, fake newspapers and fake websites. Culture Jamming is also called ’semilogical guerilla warfare’. Culture Jamming has become a wide spread and popular form of media activism, it is eye catching, effective and is possible for anyone with a sense of humour and a spray can or computer.

Techniques of culture jamming include adbusting, performance art, graffiti, billboard alteration, flash mobs and hacktivism (such as cybersquatting and Google bombing).

“Media Burn,” a spectacle staged in 1975 by the performance art collective Ant Farm.
BUGAUP, an Australian group founded in 1979 and most active in the 1980s, which creatively defaced advertising billboards, especially those featuring cigarette and alcohol advertising. The group’s acronym which stands for Billboard-Utilising Graffitists Against Unhealthy Promotions, is also a pun — to “bugger up” is an Australian slang term meaning “to spoil/ruin”
Naomi Klein’s No Logo, whose section on culture jamming draws heavily on Mark Dery’s 1993 essay on culture jamming, highlights the work of Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, of Artfux and the Cicada Corps of Artists. An excerpt is in Brandweek magazine.
The Bubble Project, a street art project by Ji Lee which involves placing empty “speech bubbles” on posters and advertisements for passers by to write commentary in.
The Church of the SubGenius, a satirical religion.

A “Kill your TV” slogan with skull motif in downtown TorontoGorillaz’ “Reject False Icons” movement, encouraging the placement of stickers on pictures of “False Icons” like Ashlee Simpson and Usher. Supporters also use graffiti to spread the word.
Billboard modifications, done in the style of the original billboard, by groups (e.g., the Billboard Liberation Front) or individuals.
Modifying slogans to create political statements. For example “Just do it… or else!” was used as a modified slogan to comment on Nike’s sweat shop practices.
Google bombing, a widespread effort to purposely influence the automated association of specific keywords with results produced by internet search engines, especially Google.
The Who’s 1967 album The Who Sell Out, featuring satirical faux commercials on the cover and between the tracks.
The band Negativland’s Dispepsi album, in which recordings related in some way to soft drinks are used to comment (in a negative way) on the beverage industry and its marketing practices.
The Church of Satan’s ad featuring founder Anton Szandor LaVey holding a snake in the style of Apple Computer’s “Think Different” campaign.
The 1994 burning of £1,000,000 in cash by the K Foundation.
Sousveillance, the recording or monitoring of authority figures.
Whirl-Mart is an event that seeks to mimic and mock what they perceive as the absurdity of the shopping process, often by organising a crowd to walk around a Wal-Mart in an apparent daze for several hours, buying nothing.
The defacement of stolen (and then returned) library books by Joe Orton and Kenneth Halliwell, for which they were imprisoned for six months in 1962. Written about in detail in John Lahr’s “Prick Up Your Ears.”

André the Giant as street artAndré the Giant Has a Posse, a street art campaign.
Kerry Against Bush a spoof political pressure group, based in Kerry, Ireland who urged voters to vote against GW Bush in the 2004 election. Their logo was a jam of a kerrygold butter logo. The website is archived here
Nike-Jam by 01.org
Stickering stop signs to create messages (e.g., “Stop War,” “Stop Eating Animals,” “Stop! Hammertime!,” etc.).
Operation Mindfuck- Outlined as various projects for Discordians to carry out which involve either defacement or sending absurd letters to people who have political power. Most notably Project Eagle which involves putting up fliers that read “Burn the polls, ye sons of freedom” on or around election day and Project Graffito (and Project Bumpersticker) which involve giving particularly Erisian slogans, such as “Your Local Police Are Armed and Dangerous”, widespread distribution.
500 Copies of the Paris Hilton’s debut album are remixed and retouched by Banksy and Danger Mouse.
Shopdropping (or Reverse Shoplifting) - The placement of art objects in public retail environments (especially large retail conglomerates).

NYCWriting messages on paper currency.
In Reno, Nevada, homemade stickers have appeared on vending machines, stating “The bill you slip/ into this slot/ supports my graft/ so thanks a lot!- Mayor Bob Cashell.”
www.NoArmy.com– a remixed version of the recruitment site, www.goarmy.com, which presents the facts missing in the Army sales pitch, and shows potential recruits what they can really expect if they enlist.

~ by mrmcgirr on April 14, 2008.