The Art of the Prank - ...Exploring the role of the prankster as artist, activist and social observer and the significance of the prank in society.

September 1, 2025

Joey Skaggs interviewed by Mark Borkowski about creative dissent on BBC Radio 4

OUTRAGE INC, an audio documentary by Mark Borkowski, aired on BBC Radio 4, August 23, 2025:

“From Suffragette arsonists to soup on sunflowers – why the stunt still matters.

Legendary publicist Mark Borkowski takes a no-prisoners look at the history of the protest stunt – the noisy, theatrical interventions that have rattled the establishment for over a century.

With fascinating examples from the BBC archive and interviews with Led By Donkeys, The Centre for Political Beauty, Joey Skaggs, The Yes Men, veteran activist Jamie Kelsey Fry and Clare Farrell from XR.”

“We criminalise the political stunt at our peril. It is a crucial art form that is impossible to ignore”, Mark Borkowski, The Guardian, 20 Aug 2025.

Listen to the full documentary on BBC Radio 4 (only available in the UK). For others, the interview is above.

September 1, 2025September 1, 2025

Virtual crime prevention?

Or, more unemployed policemen?

“South Korea Deploys Life-Size Holographic Police Officers to Prevent Crimes,” by Spooky, Oddity Central, August 15, 2025.

Seoul Police has been testing life-size holographic police officers as a way to increase people’s perception of safety and discourage crime in South Korea’s capital.

Every evening, between 7 pm and 10 pm, a uniformed policeman measuring over 170 cm tall appears in Judong No. 3 Park, a busy area in Jung-gu, Seoul, reminding residents that “in emergencies, the police will respond immediately,” and that “there are surveillance cameras everywhere.” But this is no ordinary police officer, but a 3D hologram designed to provide psychological stability to citizens and prevent disorderly behavior. Created by Hologrammica, a tech company specializing in holographic content, the life-size policeman model was installed in October of last year, on a trial basis, and recent data shows that it has had a significant impact on crime reduction in Judong No. 3 Park.

Read the whole article here.

August 20, 2025

Breaking News: The Solomon Project finds Elon Musk GUILTY

Here comes the judge… Again!

Elon Musk declares his AI, Grok, will be the new judge and jury once it has devoured all judicial case law. Says Musk on X, “With Grok 3, we are adding all court cases to the training set. It will render extremely compelling legal verdicts.”

Solomon says, “Wait a minute, Joey Skaggs created me 30 years ago as a distributed program running on a set of super computers that would deliberate on the facts and evidence of a case and deliver a definitive verdict.”

Appropriation isn’t appreciation, it’s exploitation. Give credit where credit is due. https://joeyskaggs.com/works/solomon-project/

Here’s an excerpt from “Joey Skaggs: The Solomon Project” oral history film:
Click here to play

Solomon asks, “What other creative concepts has Elon pilfered?”

August 20, 2025August 20, 2025

Is it a Bird, Is it a Plane, No! It’s Gavin Newsom to the Rescue

Maggie Reed, @mermaidmamamags, asks: Are We Doing This Right MAGA? And Adam Wren of Politico, ‘splains how Gavin Newsom is the new Trump troll.

Click this link to play the video:

“How Gavin Newsom trolled his way to the top of social media,” by Adam Wren, Politico, August 20, 2025.

With an inescapable, smashmouth, all-caps-laden and meme-filled X account, California Gov. Gavin Newsom is holding a mirror up to MAGA — and MAGA doesn’t like what it sees.

There’s Newsom on Mount Rushmore. There’s Newsom getting prayed over by Tucker Carlson, Kid Rock and an angelic, winged Hulk Hogan. There’s Newsom posting in all caps, saying his mid-cycle redistricting proposal has led “MANY” people to call him “GAVIN CHRISTOPHER ‘COLUMBUS’ NEWSOM (BECAUSE OF THE MAPS!). THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER.”

If this genre of social media post provokes deja vu, there’s a good reason for that.

Read the whole article here.

August 20, 2025

A Bunch of Swinging Dicks

Peckerheads for Cryptocurrency…

“Group Takes Credit For Throwing Sex Toys At WNBA Games And Reveals Its Motives,” by Pocharapon Neammanee, Huffpost, August 8, 2025.

The stunt somehow seems even stupider now, and to make matters worse, Donald Trump Jr. chimed in.

Cryptocurrency creators are now taking credit for throwing sex toys onto the court at multiple WNBA games, saying they intended to stir up controversy and promote their memecoin.

The self-confessed dildo-throwers say they launched the memecoin Green Dildo Coin on the Ethereum blockchain on July 28, a day before the first dildo-tossing incident. After Barstool Sports reported on the group’s identity on Wednesday, the price of the coin skyrocketed.

Read the whole article here.