Culture Jamming, the good, the bad and the ugly

My initial reaction to culture jamming was one of admiration. I though to myself ‘this is amazing, how can I get into it’. Culture jammers display remarkable creativity and passion as they attempt to educate the uninformed and ignorant. Sadly, a large percentage of our population fall into the category of uninformed and ignorant due, in no small part, to the ever increasing dominance of powerful interests. Powerful interests that want us to remain obediently amenable to their self-serving, wealth generating activities. This problem is exacerbated by the waning power and influence of the fourth estate. Culture jamming is a powerful channel for expression and freedom of speech against these powerful interests and I believe it has to be one of the most exciting avenues for collective and/or individual expression available to us today.

Benjamin R. Barber's book, 'How Markets Corrupt Children, Infantilize Adults, and Swallow Citizens Whole' is regarded as a piercing and vital look at how capitalism is consuming society. Capitalism and over-consumption is 'eating us up'! Barber claims that in our culture of over-consumption we are turning our children into aggressive consumers and also harming the psychological development of adults. I tend to agree with his assertions.
Culture Jamming is a way to reclaim our culture, rid ourselves of the 'shop till you drop' mentality and help us understand the issues that our society face.

Have a look at this video at http://kleercut.net/en/. This is a very specific culture jamming website devoted to Kimberly-Clark and their use of old growth forests in the production of Kleenex tissue products. Kleercut jammers recently used this very sophisticated approach (see video) to get their message out to shareholders of Kimberly-Clark and the general public. Did you know that Kleenex tissue products are made from old growth forest timber?

The advertising for Kleenex depict downy ducklings, fluffy puppies and cute children. All residing in the perfect TV ad world of beautiful people where everyone has sparkling white teeth.

Yes, these images give you a warm and fuzzy feeling, right?
But they certainly do not give you any insight into where Kimberly Clark source their raw materials.

Culture jammers give us this insight!

Mmmm... I'm not feeling so warm and fuzzy any more!

Culture jamming makes the act of protesting fun again. Adbusters, the most famous culture jammers of all have a wonderful spoof section on their website at http://adbusters.org/spoofads/index.php, Reverend Billy's Church of Stop Shopping site is very entertaining http://www.revbilly.com/ and Joey Skaggs new site 'Ther Art of the Prank' http://pranks.com/ has some fabulous material. Another site which features some amazing animations dedicated to US political satire http://www.markfiore.com/animation/corrections.html is heavily slanted toward 'Bush Bashing', however still well worth a visit.

Here's a little culture jamming of my own:
The Liberal Party website http://www.liberal.org.au/ proudly displays the latest statement from JH:



Debeers has a long history of explotatation in South Africa.


Culture jamming is a most welcome response to the inadequacies and declining power of the fourth estate and I believe it can have only a positive influence on our society. Culture jammer’s provide, what I would regard, a public service. They educate, inform and enlighten us to the corrupt, immoral and deceitful practices taking place in our society. Practices that in many cases are legal, but are they ethical, moral and just?

Good, Bad or Ugly, what do you think?

Video Games Developers: Are they the new Scorsese?

In the 20th century film became art. Are the video game developers of today the Scorseses of the 21st century? Are video games art?

Prior to investigating the world of video games I was one of the those people who regarded video games as merely simple entertainment for children, nothing special, just something to keep the kids (or husband) occupied when I wanted some peace and quiet. However, after further research I have discovered an exciting world that educates, entertains and provides cognitive development all within an aesthetically stunning landscape.


Film critic Roger Ebert, who admits to rarely playing video games, argues that the interactivity of computer games means they can never be regarded as art http://www.smh.com.au/news/games/good-game-but-is-it-art/2006/09/03/1157222003715.html. I find myself disagreeing with his comments as there are certainly other more traditional forms of art that are very interactive. For example, performance art can be interactive, an audience can influence the course of a performance or can even participate in it. Also there are also many forms of installation art that incorporate an element of interactivity.

The French minister of Culture and Comunications recently awarded the prestigious title of Knight in the Order of Arts and Literatures to three game designers: Shigeru Miyamoto (Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda), Michel Ancel (Rayman, Beyond Good and Evil) and Frederick Raynal (Alone in the Dark, Twinsen's Odyssey) http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060315/boissiere_pfv.htm.

Obviously the French have no problem qualifying video games as art.

I have to agree with Aaron Smuts who discusses in this article http://www.aesthetics-online.org/ideas/smuts.html there is still a lot of work to be done in the discourse of video games as art. He is of the opinion that the current discourse fails to achieve the level of argument usually undertaken within a discipline. Lots of people are debating the topic of video games as art, however not the right people. Smuts believes that philosophers of art have completely ignored the subject and in this article attempts to improve the quality of discourse around video games as art.

My mind wanders... a learned philosopher of art, armed with a game controller, frantically pushing game buttons, muttering "Ok Mario, where's the hidden exit to the green toad house?".
Perhaps these learned philosophers of art just need an introduction into the beguiling world of video games?

I discovered another cultural differential as I was researching. It is most interesting to note that there is a marked trend towards censorship of video games in Australia. This appears to follows the trends in the US. The level of censorship in Australia appears to bear the characteristics of moral panic http://www.mediaknowall.com/violence/moralpanicnotes.html. Games appear to act as a moral scapegoat for problems in society. What is happening to freedom of speech and freedom of expression? Who decides what we can and cannot see?

The need for more intelligent debate on this topic is essential and perhaps those who decide what is and what isn't art should become more familiar with the medium.

Welcome... Come on in!

Welcome to my blog... eCulture - Let's Talk About It!

I look forward to sharing some of my thoughts and musings on topics relevant to studies in Media and Communications and in particular... eCulture.

I hope you will enjoy the postings in this blog and I look forward to your comments on any topics that ignite your interest and/or passions.