Culture Jamming

[CommanderSasha]

Hello folks. I've lurked for while now, and I've decided to make myself known.

I want to raise the idea of culture jamming. I want to conduct a (reasonably) large scale action that will show the capitalist fuckers in charge that they don't own me. I could blow something up or something like that, but I'm not really the violent type.
So I want to do something that will make people stop and think, maybe even consider an alternative ideology, an alternative way of life.

My idea was to splash Market Square (in Nott'm) with brightly coloured paint. I once saw a thing about this guy who splashed paint in front of driving cars so it went under the tyres and created long, painty tracks.
But I'd really appreciate some better ideas, as well as a discussion on culture jamming in general.

Ta

[Clarion]

If you do this, can you do it in the name of the EDL or something? So that your petty antics don't make us look bad by association.

[Flying Purple People Eater]

Go around and force people to speak Turkish. Did you know that it has one of the most regular grammar systems in the world? That's awesome!

[Jimmie Higgins]

Hello folks. I've lurked for while now, and I've decided to make myself known.

I want to raise the idea of culture jamming. I want to conduct a (reasonably) large scale action that will show the capitalist fuckers in charge that they don't own me. I could blow something up or something like that, but I'm not really the violent type.
So I want to do something that will make people stop and think, maybe even consider an alternative ideology, an alternative way of life.

My idea was to splash Market Square (in Nott'm) with brightly coloured paint. I once saw a thing about this guy who splashed paint in front of driving cars so it went under the tyres and created long, painty tracks.
But I'd really appreciate some better ideas, as well as a discussion on culture jamming in general.

TaMy two cents would be to try and figure out specifically what you want to get across to people and then consider ways to express this in a clear way. I'm part of a political art group that does what's loosely called "social practice" art. I think the major difference between what we try and do and "culture jamming" is there is less of a "specticle" aspect and we try and favor interactions with people, often one-on-one.

As far as culture jamming in general, while I think some of it is fun and interesting, on a whole it is also pretty easily adaptable as a technique people people who want to bring attention to things in a non-political way too. Flash-mobs, undergrond "viral" marketing, and even graffiti as advertisements. But this is true of all art forms under capitalism, social practive, radical performance, avant-gurad styles, are all appropriated if they are effective in communicating anything.

[Jimmie Higgins]

The 2nd "Yes Men" movie I think is interesting in that culture-jammers sort of question the limits of their past approaches. They became frustrated that their satire of the rich was being missed by audiences because the rich are so shameless and audatious these days that people could half believe that McDonalds was trying to literally recycle shit to make food for poor people.

[ellipsis]

I support culture jamming as a tactic, not a strategy. Some talented folks got into bus ads in San Francisco and installed pro occupy posters that were very similar to the one that had been there before.