Culture Jammers

For a short moment in class on Monday, Song mentioned something that rang true to me: "You can't escape your culture." I agree with this statement. We are all born into culture the minute we gasp for our first breath. We are born into a mediated society without consent. However, there comes a time when eventually, people start to think for themselves and realize that they don't want to obey the idealism projected from their culture any longer. They become more aware of the advertisements, subliminal messages, competitive fashion,and ultimately, sad mediated truths surrounding them. There are people who inevitably rebel against the norm, people who question, people who protest, etc. These are all ways of dissecting culture and trying to escape from its grasp. Specifically, there are people who take the political route in attempt to subvert our modern consumerist culture--these people are called "culture jammers." These anti-consumerists take interesting measures to execute their issues with society today.

Movements that come to mind include:
-In 1993 the culture jammist group, RTMark, in affiliation to The Barbie Liberation Organization switched the voiceboxes of both 300 Barbie with G.I Joe (apparently this number was exaggerated and only 12 were switched...but the media ate it up and said that other countries like France and Canada had also done this switch), and referred to it as "shopgiving," returning these dolls back to the stores. Barbie would say "Vengeance is mine" and G.I Joe would say "Let's go to the beach!" Their original purpose in doing this was their disgust with a Barbie that has once said: "math class is tough!" They were questioning and commenting on gender stereotypes.(http://www.nytimes.com/1993/12/31/us/while-barbie-talks-tough-g-i-joe-goes-shopping.html?pagewanted=1)
-The Yes Men are a group of activists who practice what they call "identity correction" by conning powerful people and spokespersons for big, renown organizations. "From their offices in Milwaukee, they create and maintain fake websites similar to ones they want to spoof, and then they accept invitations received on their websites to appear at conferences, symposia, and TV shows. They express the idea that corporations and governmental organizations often act in dehumanizing ways toward the public" (wikipedia).

These groups often have run-ins with the law and find themselves with lawsuits, but they are examples of people who really want to spread the message of the effects of consumerist culture.

Lastly, I thought this was cute (from photographer, Laura Keeble):
"The project was based on the theory of magical thinking, looking at belief systems and idol worship, and creating an intervention that like other work I have installed, plays with the viewers perception and with any luck(;-)) creates a pause for thought! The 'headstones' were made from polystyrene, plaster and spray paint."