…Exploring the role of the prankster as artist, activist and social observer and the significance of the prank in society.
Submitted by Adam Baumeister of Bad Weather California:
Check out “Get a Grip,” our new song/video produced by Seth Olinsky (Akron/Family) and recorded in Detroit by Chris Koltay (Deerhunter, Liars) written to fit with Aerosmith’s “Crazy” video.
Read about it:
Culture Jamming, Sureà±os-style
by Michael Fallon
Utne Reader
April 1, 2011
Sometimes great cultural breakthroughs are watershed events, celebrated far and wide. When evolutionary forces conspired to mesh Appalachian hill music, Mississippi River Delta blues, and big-city boogie woogie and create a wholly new cultural entity in Elvis Presley, the country duly rejoiced. Other cultural milestones, however, arrive not at all with a bang. They percolate underground for forty years or more, roiling through several generations of evolution, adoption, innovation, and cultural adaptation, until they find a more gradual, quieter, and less publicized acceptance by the mainstream. Continue reading “Culture Jamming, Sureà±os-style”
By Jonathan McIntosh of Rebellious Pixels, January 24, 2011:
Villains Agree: Chevron Print Ad Spoofs
In late 2010, the Chevron corporation rolled out their new “We Agree” advertising campaign. I guess it was meant to present Chevron as a common sense oriented yet pragmatic and caring mega conglomerate. Needless to say it comes across as a desperate and failed attempt at human authenticity. The fail reached epic proportions when the ad campaign was leaked and punk”d by political pranksters The Yes Men even before it officially launched. The Yes Men then put out a call, to artists remixes and pranksters to create more “We Agree” spoofs. Below are a handful of my contributions to the corporate-culture jamming project starring some of the greatest pop-culture villains of all time.
See the full collection of 11 Chevron villains in my flickr gallery.
14 Great Banksy Street Art Photos and Quotes from Street Art Utopia…
A terrific display of the artist’s hand and mind:
“Think outside the box, collapse the box, and take a fucking sharp knife to it.” “” Banksy
“You”re mind is working at its best when you”re being paranoid. You explore every avenue and possibility of your situation at high speed with total clarity.” “” Banksy (Banging Your Head Against a Brick Wall)
“Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place. Some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place.” “” Banksy (Wall and Piece) Continue reading “More Banksy”
Italy vs. Google–from Street View to street theater?
by Edward Moyer
CNET News
October 23, 2010
Is Google’s Street View about to become a global forum for street theater?
It might be headed in that direction, if Italian officials get their way. According to a report, Italy has demanded that Google start giving people in that country three-days warning, via radio and newspapers, as to when its Street View cars will be roaming the stradas collecting images to plaster all over the Web.
The demand, picked up by PC Magazine from a report in La Stampa, is hardly surprising. As my colleague Chris Matyszczyk has pointed out, the Street View cars have captured plenty of strange imagery–dead bodies in Brazil, barfing Brits, ale-addled and outhoused Aussies. Not exactly stellar PR shots for the local tourist board or chamber of commerce. (And, as Matyszczyk has also noted, the Italians seem especially touchy about their worldwide reputation, even going so far as to target an innocent iPhone app for suggesting that–gasp–people might actually associate Italy with… the Mafia.)
Then, of course, there are the personal privacy concerns. Continue reading “Google Street Theater”