CCT300 – Labs

1. Week 7 CCT300 – Labs Cultural Jamming Project CCT300 – Critical Analysis of Media October 22, 2009

2. Cultural Jamming? • “A term I have popularized by articles in The New York Times and Adbusters, might best be defined as media hacking, information warfare, terror-art, and guerrilla semiotics, all in one. Billboard bandits, pirate TV and radio broadcasters, media hoaxers, and other vernacular media wrenchers who intrude on the intruders, investing ads, newscasts, and other media artifacts with subversive meanings are all culture-jammers.” - Mark Dery • “Damn the Networks! Victory to the Imagination!” - Yogi in Craig Baldwin's “Spectres of the Spectrum” • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ep-hGYOQwo

3. Types of Cultural Jamming • Commercial: Probably the most well known form of culture jamming is subvertising.

8. Types of Cultural Jamming • Political: Less common but equally powerful are political forms of culture jamming.

14. Scene from “The Network” (1967): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90ELleCQvew

15. Types of Cultural Jamming • Social: Of course, some culture jams are playful in nature and target society in general, being satirically oriented at anything from a holiday to a particular political leader or recognizable symbol.

18. How to Cultural Jam? • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00yXM74CHFg&feature=related • Become educated. Learn about some of the destructive methods of large-scale consumerism and about the unethical dealings of multinational companies like Wal-Mart and Nike. Read subversive literature, like "Steal This Book" or "No Logo." • Gather your friends together who share the same views as you and form a plan. Maybe your group should join a local jammer network. Pick out a target and get some ideas formulating. If you can't think of any ideas, do some research on jamming and learn from the actions of fellow jammers and activists. • Gather your supplies. The jammer must be creative and flexible. You have a wide range of tools at your disposal: Markers, spray paint, fliers, wheat paste, stickers, paint, etc

19. How to Cultural Jam? • Hit up the scene with your group of friends! Make it something that would catch your eye, and watch out for employees, officers, and live security-cams. Hint, don't forget that the infamous dark dome cameras on supermarket ceilings do not have 360 degree vision, and are in blurry black and white. • Rinse and repeat, and develop better strategies after the jams. Hit different communities, to shock people who never saw your eye-catching work. • Source:

20. Cultural Jamming Project • 25 % of final grade • Proposal, due Nov. 6 (5%) • Final Deliverable: Nov 26 (20%)

21. Cultural Jamming Project • Form groups, 3-4 members • Identify a cultural jamming topic • Do a brainstorming session • Create a proposal

22. A group resume (an outline of team members, their individual skills, and collective rules and responsibilities) A written section that provides a background of : Title - possible name Overview - brief description of concept Goals and Objectives - what your group wants to achieve and why it is relevant Audience - who is the intended audience and how this will be considered in project Key Message - what do you want your audience to learn from your work Proposal

23. Content Planning - what content you will include and how will it will be structured Medium of Expression- what form(s) of media will the project take and why Schedule - a week by week breakdown of project tasks Bibliography - relevant sources Visual/Conceptual References - images and ideas that inspire your concept Proposal

24. Activity • In groups of 3 or 4 visit the following Wikipedia article and under “List of culture jamming organizations or people” select a topic for you to create a simple Jam: • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_jamming • Using Adobe Photoshop CS4, and borrowing pictures from Google Images, prepare a simple Jam ad consisting of images and text layers. • Post the image in JPG format on your Lab 7 page in your wiki together with a brief explanation of your image and the names of your lab members.