DI Digest Idea 3 July 96

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3.	Culture Jamming
	The glossy world of advertising is under attack. Nineties activists known as 'culture jam- mers' claim the symbols and images of mainstream media are polluting the 'mental environ- ment' of the masses. The problem as they see it is with one-way information pipelines that transmit but do not receive, turning consumers into hostages of mass media imagery ranging from Ronald McDonald to Disney World (or 'McDisney', now that they've combined forces). Culture jam- mers take their battle to the streets. The 'jamming' lingo itself originated in the war and, more recently, from CB radio when users 'jam' or hijack one other's airwaves. These 'communications guerillas' are striking back at 'hyper-reality' with an arsenal of techniques that recall Art School more than Army Camp. CJ loses somewhat on Rambo lingo (see DI #2), but it redeems itself in sheer inventiveness. Forget mon- key-wrenching , this is media-wrenching. CJ is 'viral' - it uses the enemy's own resources to replicate itself. It uses the imagery of ad campaigns or media blitzes to attack spoon-fed images and passive public absorption. Favourite tools of the trade include: subvertising - producing anti-ads; slashing - word poach- ing (ever heard of Absolut Nonsense vodka?); hacking - exposing corporate misdeeds through computer espionage; sniping and billboard banditry - gouging, stick-pasting or otherwise mutilating public ad space (a highly illegal and nocturnal activity); audio agitprop - digital deconstructions of media messages reworked to challenge copyright laws; and of course media hoaxing - hoodwinking journalists into writing bogus stories. Watch for International Buy Nothing Day this November 29, a day invented by culture jammers to protest the busiest shopping day of the year.[the 90s information war, turning Ad Campaign imagery against itself]
	media-watching v. keeping a critical eye on the mass media media-wrenching v. another term for culture jamming hyper-reality n. the postmodern social situation in which real living and leisure are replaced by prepackaged experiences and media-created events communications guerillas n. artistic terrorists in a media-dominated world
	Adbusters Media Foundation. Adbusters Quarterly: The Journal of the Mental Environment. Vancouver, BC: The Media Foundation.
NOT HOT -	The 'Unenlightenment' Era
	More lingo for these postmodern times ... *The Unenlightenment n.* an age where plentiful information is met with uncritical ignorance. semiotic strategies n. the overt mind-warping techniques that culture jammers say advertisers and the media use to control consumer decision-making. Subliminal seduction, that conspiracy theory of the seventies, is considered child's play in comparison. product tribes n. that holy grail of consumerism that promises, 'if you buy this product, you will be accepted into group X of your dreams'.
*Virtual Ideas*	Some CJ Thoughts http://www.clas.ufl.edu/anthro/cyberanthro/Culture_jamming.html Some CJ Images http://phantom.com/~abrupt/CJ/CJ