Culture Jamming 101

The past few days I've been slowly compiling a list of the different terms, resources, etc. related to the concept of urban activism. Keep in mind, this list is obviously not complete and certainly editable. If you have anything you'd like to add, feel free to e-mail them in.

Culture Jamming
The act of transforming existing mass media to produce negative commentary about itself, using the original medium's communication method.

Adbusters Culturejammer Headquarters
Adbusters is probably one of the best known groups dedicated to culture jamming (you may know them from their magazine, published under the same name). Their site was "designed to help you turn the drab number cruncher you're staring at right now into the most versatile activist tool ever reckoned with. From cyberpetitions to Critical Mass tips, from disseminating corporate propaganda, to downshifting your lifestyle and treading lightly on the planet, this site will inspire you to move -- upon your return to the real world -- from spectator to participant."

Anti-Advertising Agency
An artist run media-literacy campaign that "co-opts the tools and structures used by the advertising and public relations industries, calling into question the purpose and effects of advertising in public space. Through constructive parody and gentle humor the Agency’s campaigns ask passers by to critically consider the role and strategies of today’s marketing media as well as alternatives for the public arena.

Artivist
Term for one who combines art with activism. Artivism developed in recent years while the anti-globalization and antiwar protests emerged and proliferated. In most of the cases artivists attempt to push political agendas by the means of art. Yet this is not political art as it was known before, in the sense of artworks being political. The artivist is often involved in Streetart or Urban Art, Adbusting or Subvertising.

Banksy
Probably one of the most well-known individual culture-jammers/anti-consumerist performance artists in the United States, mostly because of the extended news coverage of his work. In September, he replaced over 500 of Paris Hilton's CD's with a new version bearing different song titles such as "Why am I Famous?," "What Have I Done?" and "What Am I For?" He's also a well accomplished graffiti artist, even once decorating Israel's controversial West Bank barrier with satirical images of life on the other side.

Shopdropping
A tactic used by artists and activists to clandestinely place altered or recreated objects into retail stores. Handmade labels were printed out for students to color, cut, and paste. The intent is to reconnect the labor with the product.

Subvertising
The practice of making spoofs or parodies of global and political advertisements in order to make a statement. This can take the form of a new image, or an alteration to an existing image. A subvertisement can also be referred to as meme hack and can be a part of social hacking or culture jamming.