Prank News - The Art of the Prank

March 4, 2009December 15, 2023

LiteratEye Extra: China”s Prank Thwarts “˜Theft of Culture”

Editor’s Note: W.J. Elvin III’s LiteratEye column about literary hoaxes is featured here, and only here, every Friday. This is a LiteratEye Extra:

News Analysis: China”s Prank Thwarts “˜Theft of Culture”
by W.J. Elvin III, March 3, 2009

artchinanewsafpgi-200 Do pranks have a role in repairing theft of culture? Apparently the Chinese think so. Quite often, theft of culture refers to items captured by a conquering army, so-called “spoils of war,” sometimes excused as “war souvenirs.” There are many other ways items of cultural significance are liberated from their proper homes including outright theft, sale by someone who has no right to sell, and treasure hunting (sometimes in the respectable guise of archaeology), to name a few.

Examples could be drawn from the world over (see More nations demanding return of relics, from Business Inquirer) but this particular case is from China, formerly a huge shopping mart for collectors and now trying to reclaim some historic cultural items it considers plundered. When two extraordinarily valuable Chinese bronzes went up for auction the other day, the high bidder at nearly $40-million, a Chinese government official, then refused to pay. Continue reading “LiteratEye Extra: China”s Prank Thwarts “˜Theft of Culture””

November 22, 2008January 15, 2019

Media Hoaxing and Social Research Seminar, CNRS, Paris [English & French]

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Laboratoire
«Communication et Politique»
Paris, France

Media Hoaxing: From Entertainment to Media Criticism
Thursday, November 27, 2008
(Seminar organized by
André Gattolin & Hervé Glevarec)
Program for Research Day

Relevance of Media Hoaxing as an Object of Social Research:

For the past several years a profusion of media hoaxes have spread in France and all over the World. Until recently, very little academic research had been conducted on the subject and no one had really portrayed a global perspective. In December 2006, a very elaborate hoax perpetrated by a public TV channel in Belgium brought the process to light and generated much interest among media and social researchers. Techniques developed by media hoaxers have become so highly sophisticated that this unconventional practice has become a fertile field for social research and a path to understanding the complex relationship between the media and their audiences. Dating back to the 18th century, having evolved along with the first mass media publications, hoaxes were considered worthless and vulgar jokes with malicious or humorous intent. During the last decades, the humor persists as one dimension of hoaxes. However, it appears that more and more people have become aware of the hoax as a new dimension of social criticism, which includes political protest and, of course, media subversion.

We will take the opportunity of Joey Skaggs” visit to Europe – on the occasion of his participation in a conference hosted in Karlsruhe (Germany) by the Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie – to explore and analyze the protest movement against mass-media known as «culture jamming» which has developed during the last 40 years in the United States of America. With his lifetime work on the cutting edge of art and activism, Joey Skaggs is a pioneer of this cultural movement and is still active today.

For more information, contact André Gattolin

French Version, including the schedule for the day: Continue reading “Media Hoaxing and Social Research Seminar, CNRS, Paris [English & French]”

November 21, 2008January 15, 2019

François Caradec, French Writer and Pranks Encyclopedist, RIP [English & French]

From André Gattolin:

François Caradec, French post-dadaà¯st writer, died Thursday, November 13, 2008 in Paris. He was 84 and was renowned as one of the best specialists of French marginal and creative literature of the 19th and the early 20th century. He was a connoisseur of Alphonse Allais (one of the first French literary hoaxers), Alfred Jarry, Isidore Ducasse de Lautréamont and Raymond “Crazy” Roussel.

A close friend of many surrealist writers, Caradec was also Regent of the Pataphysic College and part of the “œuvre de littérature potentielle” (Oulipo) created by Georges Pérec.

In 1964, he published (with his accomplice Alain Arnaud) one of the most relevant encyclopedias ever written on pranks, pratical jokes and hoaxes called Dictionnaire des farces et attrapes.

I unfortunately never met him but I had the wonderful chance, two years ago, to review a copy of this very rare and marvellous book”¦

If heaven really exists, its inhabitants will, from now on, have to face Caradec”s pranks for eternity!

Here’s his obituary from Le Monde: Continue reading “François Caradec, French Writer and Pranks Encyclopedist, RIP [English & French]”

November 14, 2008January 15, 2019

Eisenstadt Hoax Analysis Continues: A Fake Fake Hoax?

The Eisenstadt Hoax: A Real-life Example of a “Fake Fake”
by Sheldon Rampton
Center for Media and Democracy, PRWatch.org
November 14, 2008

The hoax in this case is Eisenstadt’s claim that he was the source for Carl Cameron’s report on Fox News. Cameron never spoke to Eisenstadt and did not use Eisenstadt as the basis for his reporting.

Topics:
There is a minor controversy bouncing around right now on the internet, and I’d like to do what I can to set the story straight. The controversy involves two incidents:

1. The day after the U.S. presidential election, Fox News reporter Carl Cameron gave an interview with Fox commentator Bill O’Reilly. During the interview, Cameron said that McCain’s advisors had told him about their unhappiness with Sarah Palin as a vice-presidential running mate. Citing anonymous sources within the McCain campaign, Cameron recited a litany of complaints, including their claim that Palin was so ignorant she didn’t know Africa was a continent.

2. A blogger who calls himself “Martin Eisenstadt” stated a few days ago that he was the anonymous source for Cameron’s story. Earlier today, however, the New York Times reported that “Martin Eisenstadt doesn’t exist. His blog does, but it’s a put-on. The think tank where he is a senior fellow — the Harding Institute for Freedom and Democracy — is just a Web site. The TV clips of him on YouTube are fakes. And the claim of credit for the Africa anecdote is just the latest ruse by Eisenstadt, who turns out to be a very elaborate hoax that has been going on for months.” Continue reading “Eisenstadt Hoax Analysis Continues: A Fake Fake Hoax?”

November 3, 2008January 15, 2019

Joey Skaggs to Present on Pataphysics

ArtofthePrank.com Editor Joey Skaggs will speak on Pataphysics: The Science of Imaginary Solutions at the Caeno Foundation’s Conference, What Was Old is New Again at ZKM Center for Art and Media, Karlsruhe, Germany.

Here’s a description of his presentation:
Pataphysics: The Science of Imaginary Solutions

What lies beyond metaphysics? A great deal for Alfred Jarry (1873-1909), a playwright and culture jammer who coined the term Pataphysics. It is a philosophy that takes in everything written and everything sung and everything done, and like metaphysics has the virtue of meaning whatever you want it to mean.

Pataphysics offers a voyage of discovery and adventure into realms where philosophers seldom venture, including art, activism, and onto the street. Dada, Futurism, Surrealism acknowledged the influence of Pataphysics, and nowadays the tradition is carried on by US-based ensembles Act-up/New York, Billboard Liberation Front, Yes Men, Cacophony Society, Negativeland, Improv Everywhere, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping. The biting satire of their parodies and absurd theater make effective social commentary

For information about registration and attendance, visit here. For further information, contact the conference organizers at newagain@caeno.org.