Culture jamming: art or graffiti?

Defined as the art pf using existing mass media to comment on those very media themselves, culture jamming is a highly debateable topic. Culture jamming can vary, with a variety of forms utilised including adbusting, performance art, graffiti art and so on (http://www.wlu.ca/page.php?grp_id=87&p=1588).

Culture jamming: art or graffiti? There are numerous arguments to support both views. In this post I will try to display arguments from both opinion points.

Culture jamming uses the original mediums communication method. For example if a billboard was going to be targeted, it would stay in the same form of a billboard. This therefore can lead to two view points. Firstly, if the original mediums communication method is simply replicated with the necessary changes, is it art because no defacement has occurred? An example of culture jamming which has had the original mediums communication method replicated with various changes is the Starbucks Coffee logo below.

However, on the other hand if elements are added to the original medium such as extra letters or words, or images, is it graffiti as defacement has occurred? An example of culture jamming which has had the original mediums communication method added to or defaced is the McDonalds advertisement below which has the phrase 'Feeling hungry all of a sudden?' adbusted into 'Feeling heavy, all of a sudden?' by adding the word 'heavy' over the previous word 'hungry'.

This being said, it has been argued that culture jamming differs from artistic appropriation and also from vandalism where the primary goal is destruction or defacement.

Many organisations have used culture jamming as a form of activism and a resistance movement to the hegemony of popular culture, based on the ideas of "guerrilla communication" and the "detournement" of popular icons and ideas (Farrell and Stewart, 2007).

Adbusters is particularly well-known for their culture jamming campaigns, and the Canadian political magazine often features photographs of politically-motivated billboards or advertisement vandalism sent in by readers. It is an activist magazine, devoted to numerous political and social causes, many of which are anti-consumerism or anti-capitalist in nature (http://www.contagiousmedia.org/press/nike/nike-adbusters.htm).

Another adbusting organization humorously named ‘Lazy Artist’, made up of painters, video artists, graphic designers, photographers, writers and musicians from Amsterdam was formed in 2002. Lazy Artist has adbusted numerous global corporation including McDonalds, ING Banking and Esso to name a few.

Below are a few examples of adbusting which I found amusing, whether they are art or graffiti.