Reviewing the Arts – Summer 07

13 responses so far ↓

• 1    Laura // Jun 9, 2007 at 12:13 pm

  In what ways might street art and culture jamming be similarly motivated? In what ways are the two different? What, if any, purpose does each serve? And are the effects of each similar or different? and how so? GIVE EXAMPLES.

  I had never heard of culture jamming before, and I knew what street art was. I couldn’t help but feel like they were basically the same thing yet both with very different effects on people. Street art and Culture jamming are both about getting your message out there. Much of street art even has to do with covering up all the advertisement that infests our cities. I recently viewed a documentary (thought I can’t recall its name) about graffiti and the street art community. In the film they discussed how one day a bunch of street artists got together and covered up this huge ad with all their art. They said the ad was making their city ugly and they didn’t want to have to look at it everyday. This is a good example of how culture jamming and street art are much alike. Both can be artistic ways of getting a message across to people that ads are trying to run your life and dumbing down our world. There are not many ways that people can put their message out their and the bubble art project and graffitti are two ways that it can be done by almost anyone who wants to. They are both communal arts, you don’t need to go to art school and you really only need a paint can or marker and an idea.
  Street art and culture jamming are both not really even considered art forms though. Most people walkin down a New York street wouldn’t even notice much of the street art of even a bubble on an ad. Or they would be offended by it, blame in on the fact that the youth of this country is going down the tubes. Yet culture jamming seems to be the Jan to the Marsha in this Brady Bunch. Street art is becoming more and more popular. People are starting to see that this is art and an expression not meant to ruin a city but to make it a better place. In one of the articles it even said that Jude Law and Angelina Jolie even bought street art. Graffiti is moving its up on the artistic scale and culture jamming is left behing saying Marsha Marsha Marsha! But why? To me it seems that people can’t seem to look past their belief that people are just doing this to offend them and that their just doing it to be a tough guy and deface property. Just because its words in a bubble doesn’t mean that there isn’t a serious message involved. There trying to show people that were on a dangerous path in this world and they may not be painting a girl hugging a bomb, but that’s because the media already had these images pasted all over out lives. They are just showing us in words what many wouldn’t reealize if they didn’t read them. Words can say just as much as these street art images and hopefully soon people will come to realize this.

• 2    Gabriel // Jun 11, 2007 at 7:17 pm

  In what ways might street art and culture jamming be simularly motivated?In what ways are the two differant? What if any, purpose does each serve? and are the effects of each simular or differant? and how so? GIVE EXAMPLES.

  I think that culture jamming is great! It’s nice to see people fighting back against seeing advertisments poluting our environment of everywhere we go. It very exiting for me to see that culture jamming is going on, and that the general masses are putting their own spin on pop culture adrertisements. Culture jamming and street art are good forms of expression and creativity, and help make our world less dull–which I believe to be the main motiviation behind these art forms. But I still think that not all paint splattered on a wall is street art, and their is a fine line between street art and “tagging” or graffiti. Although, I think that Banksy clearly fits into the category of street art I feel that there’s quite a bit of slopply done graffiti out there by people who believe that their street artists but all there doing is putting their names up on walls and not conveying any type of message. From what I’ve read on culture jamming, I’m lead to feel that this fits in yet a differant category of response art, a challenge to the overwhelming media in our society and in the situation with the bubble project a chance for the masses to fight back. The effects of street art, graffiti, and culture jamming I feel can go either way as far as being the same or differant, it really depends on the situation. Generally speaking, I see street as more for entertainment, adding flavor to the environment making it more interesting to look at. Whereas culture jamming in the bubble project situation can serve the same purpose but also gets the general public more involved, and you dont necessarly have to be an artist to write a comment.

• 3    John // Jun 12, 2007 at 11:19 am

  Culture jamming and street art both aim to create art in a public place that people can engage with on a daily basis. I think both CAN be used for social commentary or conciousness raising, but does not have to be in order to be considered one of the two. For example, there is a group that makes stickers that say “f-ck” (am I allowed to write the real word on here?) and they distribute them for people to stick on signs and then send back pictures of where they put them. As a result, they published a book and website with pictures of signs that read “Do not F-CK the animals” or “no F-CKing from 7am – 7pm without permit” among others. In my opinion, these are not trying to make a statement or raise awareness about anything. It’s just funny. It makes you giggle.

  One of the most important effects of both culture jamming and street art is that they both bring us (the public) out of our drone-like daily routines. So many people just go to school, go to work, walk around listening to their ipods with their heads down, and never notice their surroundings. These types of public art catch our attention and sometimes actually make us think about things. They also can create temporary community among strangers that are viewing it at the same time.

• 4    Nicole // Jun 12, 2007 at 1:15 pm

  I do not believe that I have ever known any such exhilaration as profound and climactic as the breathless catharsis that accompanies a sprint from police. This suspension of worldly responsibility and earthly logic took place subsequent to my exposure as a an artistic terrorist. Wearied by the countless hours of gratuitous still life painting, the mentally paralyzing lectures on pre historic art, and quite possibly every other requisite obligation of the art school foundation experience, I sought respite in the art of the streets. Upon declaring myself a stencil pirate, I stockpiled x-acto knives and chicken wire, dark clothing and the quiet shoes accoutrement to the artist of the night. The challenge of stencil pirating or graffiti art was revealed to me early in the process; possessing all the technical ability in the world will not inhibit the naissance of a clever image. Generally speaking, in the graffiti arts there are no opportunities to converse concept with the viewer. There are no artist statements or artist biographies. In effect, the artist does not exist. The truth of the matter is this; the art exists autonomously, it does not prescribe to the constraints of any institutional regulation or the fantastical whims of the commercial art world. This is the point where it bears likeness to the fundamentals of culture jamming, it exists as product and consumer of the public space. Where jamming and pirating depart however, is their status as a commodity; graffiti art, with exception, cannot be bought and sold, at least not in the way a culture jammed image can. Jamming has become a convention, a tool like any other. Jamming is a means to an end so to speak. The scariest reality though, is that graffiti art has become a convention of marketers and advertisers as well; I recall Playstation producing street art ads to promote their new product. But, in the end, I am assured that playing Playstation will never be as much fun as running from the police. Art is ultimately elusive to the filthy gaze of the capitalist sytem.

• 5    Cheryl // Jun 12, 2007 at 1:51 pm

  “Carving a bit of art out of a sterile environment” is one of he last quotes presented by Bansky in the Wired article to explain his purpose for the images of his guerilla art. I believe this statement could be the mission statement and subversive motivation of street artists and culture jammers alike. It is the presentation of art with a message on political, social, or ethical issues that the public may not recognize, want to admit, or be aware. The pieces of art both groups create can be recognized as such and the artist themselves can get the acclaim of the traditional gallery-shown artist. However, they may always be viewed as subversive artists creating pieces without significant recognition as anything but satirical activism or shocking advertisement. Bansky’s work was amazing, lyrical, and humorous. He knew that “…a handful make it, a handful buy it, and a handful show it, but millions look at it and have nothing to say.” Therefore, his work did exactly what he hoped it would do; make the public stop, look, and think for a moment about the image they saw. He wanted to demonstrate all the flaws with the art-market showing that an image and where the artist displays that image could change the rules. Bansky believes in free form art and presenting it in non-traditional ‘outdoor galleries’, therefore, putting it in museums without being curated, putting it on public walls Bansky makes the public have something to say about it. This is the same way many graffiti artists think, which unfortunately apart form tagging or gang-related markings, is also seen by some as not art or worthy of public viewed. Now, if Bansky is penned, “…an ingenious and dexterous culture jammer” then one has to recognize the similarities between the world of culture jamming and street art. Both forms are artistic. Both forms can be humorous. Both can be exploiting an issue. Both focus intent on making the public aware of its presence. If you look at the Bubble Project’s form of culture jamming, the bubbles they placed on public signs and ads made people stop and think, so much so that they wrote in the bubbles a message or added a message to change the way the pubic viewed the ad. They took an image or idea that the public viewed daily or as status quo, and makes them consider it in a new way. Isn’t this the goal of the street artist and culture jammer, expression in an open forum for public review and criticism? This type of art makes traditionalist cringe; however, this criticism may be the exact goal and an accomplishing task of those creating this work.

• 6    Collin // Jun 12, 2007 at 2:42 pm

  In what ways might street art and culture jamming be similarly motivated? In what ways are the two different? What, if any, purpose does each serve? And are the effects of each similar or different? and how so?

  Walking or driving down the street people tend to look at people and buildings every so often having that quick glance or that all to obvious double-take. But then I sit back and I myself look at numerous people and buildings but never really remember the specifics visually. However; when viewing the city and when especially coming across Murals or artwork found on the side of a building that visual image emit an emotional and physical feeling that one could not attain just by conjuring up that very thought. Banksy himself uses these images to convey a sense of joyous laughter or uneasiness through image manipulation. Now I am not referring to image manipulation in the idea of modifying the image which he does in some cases (Andy Warhol’s Soup Can and Pulp Fiction 2-Shot) but the manipulation of the images overall meaning. When viewing the Pulp Fiction piece he subsequently changed the idea of Travolta and Jackson into being monkey’s doing their job but not really being intellectually sound. Remember that anyone can fire a gun, but it takes the idiot to never regret it.

  Concerning the idea of culture jamming and street art alike, once again why do people have to categorize these into separate categories. Art is art and it wasn’t until Banksy started blending the lines between revolutionary and his work through basicly quasy vandalism that people began to take a interest. However; Banksy himself, has drawn the attention of the media through the exact opposite method which is taught in modern day art schools. He gives very little information as to what he himself does or insight into how he lives his life. A ghost if you may have….. Once again though this is nothing new because their are examples in everyday life that emit this same level of ambiguousity. Take for instance the people of Youtube and their precious “lonelygirl” that would give journal entries as to what she thought about certain things that pertained to her everyday life. At first no one knew who she was, or why she was so lonely, but then after some great deal of time and all the hype that began to surround her we found out that it was all fictional and a marketing team had been placed behind her and the character they had created. I myself could care less about what this girl was saying but inadvertently I began to notice that this is just another way to fight the PR war through the opposite method of overhyping or promoting yourself.

  Banksy does THE EXACT SAME THING. Perhaps he has taken it to a different level by placing his artwork in the MoMA but the overall message is still there. That ability to break into the mainstream that you the artist once saw as unattainable. An elite sect whose membership is closely monitored.

  They stated that art was one of the last true “cartels” and after reading the sentence about how many people go and view art and agree that something is beautiful but very few have the ability to actually place that artwork in the gallery. This is so true….. So true. I myself visit the Art Institute on a weekly basis to draw up lighting schemes and view composition, but I myself will never have my work presented there and I highly doubt I will ever have a say in what is shown there either. In the long run I guess I should say that the world is opening up and becoming accessible to all. But then again is it the art that you are seeing that is the most valuable part of the work or the imaginative thought that went into creating it that is so valuable????

• 7    Michael // Jun 12, 2007 at 3:49 pm

  I find street art very stimulating and I find myself responding to it more than I would an advertisement from a huge corporation. Street art has a way of connecting with an inner portion of me that understands the underground culture that it is coming from. This is the new hip-hop culture that looks at the world somewhat sardonic and also in a new hip “I do care but in my own cool, eccentric way”. The caring is what is important here. The hip-hop culture cares about the world in a way that most people would not dare to think. They care about AIDS in Africa. They care about government subjugation. They care about the common people. The reason they are sardonic is because of the abuse that has come from the top tier of society upon the rest of the world at the “little people’s” dismay. There are also certain parts of the hip hop culture that do not agree with this sardonic purview such as having to be cool enough to be a “hip-hopper”. You have to wear the right clothes which does not go well with the material possesions clause that says “material possesions will bring happiness”. That is actually for the corporations, so some of the culture is hypocritical. I firmly believe that the graffiti writing counter-culture is very viable when coming to change in the world although.

  Culture jamming however is very different because that idea was born from street art. The “street bubbles” was another type of graffiti that was thought up so people could have a voice against the corporations that are making this mess of public space. I hate advertisements. I believe they are insipid. Street art and culture jamming are ways to express one’s beliefs about the world through satire. Altough some of the bubbles did not have a good message (check out the one about the newsman having is penis groped by his co-anchor) some had a very good message that puts life itself on a pedestal for people to look at and wonder: are we doing the right thing? I find the ones that make fun of the way corporations are critiquing the physical body by putting some ultra-hot model on the front of a magazine or in an advertisement to be the funniest. The bubble that said “want to buy some steroids?” really made me chuckle. Overall, the hip hop counterculture has made breakthroughs that even the corporations are trying to follow now. THat is the most important of the issues. These graffiti artists have become legends for making so much change I firmly believe.

• 8    Kevin // Jun 12, 2007 at 4:37 pm

  The most intuitive point in street art and culture jamming is the idea of presenting themselves to large amounts of people at any given point. Majority of each piece presented is done at a somewhat populated area so the general population can spot. The difference in the two seems to be there influence and goals to the public. Culture jamming seems to have a pop art influence, taken social norms common ideas then presenting them as humorous or thought provoking art. For example the painting of two police officers kissing, seeing it at first I’m reminded of the infectiousness of a yawn, where one person sees the art and unknowingly duplicates the art seen. The picture of a tern figure of society the police are stereotyped as “hard-asses”, Banksy portrays them as vulnerable softies engulfed by their passions. One of the few purposes of culture jamming is to desecrate the affect of corporate marketing.
  Although culture jamming is a form of street art, most consider street art as spray painted murals or, large-scale forms of abstract designs. The true purpose of street art is in the eye of the artist who creates it and the pedestrian who views it. We each may have a different meaning in seeing an abstract view of tangled text highlighted by the skyline of a city during sunset, some see it as an artist “showboating” his skills, or as and artist view into his dream of an urban “Shangri-La”.

• 9    Elizabeth // Jun 12, 2007 at 5:03 pm

  Well, first, street art is usually colorful and bubbly, for example, a huge name painted on the side of a building not in “stick letters” like this typeface that I’m using now, but in rounded out letters. Everyone knows what I’m talking about. Culture jamming, on the other hand, I took to mean, from the bubble project and from the picture “Just Blow It”, that it was a photograph or painting depicting something in popular culture that was altered in some way to convey a different meaning, or added to the meaning of the original piece. for example with the bubble manifesto. I saw an advertisement for the HBO show Six Feet Under and coming out of one of the actor’s mouths was something to the effect of “do angel dust.” that small example is conveying two messages: one, it’s advertising the show and two: it’s talking about drugs. both of the messages are very prevalent in our society. Street art is different from culture jamming because street art usually conveys only one message while culture jamming conveys two or more messages. Each are effective because culture jamming, not only being a way to express yourself openly, as with street art, but also speaking to the society and sometimes questioning our beliefs, ideals and values. street art on the other hand is a form of self expression first and foremost.

• 10    Carolyn // Jun 12, 2007 at 5:29 pm

  In the comfort of my cubicle at work this morning, I began browsing through images connected with the bubble project. My “lol” sessions at the different images were bait for fellow co-workers to join in on the laughter. “I’ve never heard of this before!,” said a colleague. “Of course, you have,” someone said in response, “people write on advertisements all the time.” So I asked him the ultimate “reviewing the arts” question, why? He responded saying, “Because advertisements are so ridiculous. It’s like ad agencies are desperate for new ideas. Print ads like these anyway are trash. People on the streets are smarter than the ad executives”

  And there was the answer to my blog, I thought in my head. The very premises of culture jamming. The term makes me think of that game that the surrealists played, as someone wrote a line, folded the piece of paper, and with only the knowlege of the line written before, they wrote a new thought. It’s the idea of constantly spawning new ideas from previous work. Print ads, specifically always seem to offer a sharp underlying message. It’s only to drive the consumer to embrace the message, and, well, consume.

  Banksy capitalizes off this same idea. His witty responses to what he views on the street is considered a fine line for some. But really, I can’t help but to think of the statement of my colleague this morning and applying it to Banksy’s street art. “People on the streets are smarter than the ad executives. As some celebrities and others who have purchased his work may agree, Banksy’s art is perhaps smart enough to be revolutionary. More so than the real “professionals.”

• 11    Malia // Jun 12, 2007 at 5:53 pm

  Street art is a powerful tool, that creates quit a fuss. However, I’m not quite sure if i necessarily agree with the whole concept. I mean it’s hard to limit an artist becuase that is the beauty of art. What are the limits?! But, is it acceptable to just make any piece of material free reign to an artist’s ideas? A lot of street art is often political, or is done in a manner to make a point to the general public. Yes, there is a lot of “jibberish” street art the we do not understand, however, if you were to go to a highly populated city, that is known for it’s street art, there would be a lot of street art that can stand alone to the general public without an “artist statement”. However, as an artist that “writes” they must understand it is a political business. They need to understand that weather or not they think it’s fair or like it, their masterpieces of art are not technically their own when they are done on public property. Therefore, they relinquish their rights to it. So i wonder with Banksy’s talent, why put so much effort into something for it to just get covered up in a few days?! Then again there is thrill and pride to it all as an artist. Many people claim that street art is harmful, and pointless. Granted, some of that may be true. But…. I would have to disagree and say that Banksy has a creative talent, and has developed a reputation and a respect from the public. He keeps the population on their toe’s wondering what he’ll do next?! Its tough to gain a reputation like that, and I know that is the utlimate goal for most writers, so why not let him roll with it, and let him keep appeasing the public, knowing that he’s harmless.
  I’m not very familiar with street art, but I’d love to look into it more, and Banksy has sparked that exhilirating interest in me.

• 12    Kaaren // Jun 12, 2007 at 5:58 pm

  Culture jamming and street art share many of the same characteristics. Both art forms use already existing surfaces and alter them to create new meanings. Street art uses surfaces in public spaces as a canvas, such as old storefronts, alleys, industrial materials, among other things. Street artist Banksy murals inside painted a mural inside a subway station and even put his own “Early Man Goes to Market” inside the British Museum, and the Bubble Project posted speech bubbles in areas all over New York City, from benches to storefronts. These surfaces are often property of businesses or individuals, but street artists appropriate the paces for their own use. They make these owned spaces more public, not only through the artist’s own manipulation of concrete into a “canvas”, but by making art that is impossible for everyday people to ignore. The Bubble Project’s manifesto observes how our “communal spaces are being overrun with ads”. Street art and culture jamming both give people a new way to connect with other human beings in a world where we are constantly bombarded with the latest marketing idea. We are in turn empowered by an opportunity to challenge, on however small a scale, the companies’ ads that guide our judgments on everything from what we wear to where we live. Culture jamming, like street art, uses images and spaces intended for public viewing to instill humor, wit, political messages, or creative images. The spoof Nike ad, for example, changes the Nike slogan, “Just Do It” to “Just Blow It”, making fun of they way Nike encourages consumers to pay for highly priced shoes, regardless of whether individuals can afford to or not. Street art and culture jamming both encourage people to look at the spaces and advertising images around them as places for their own expression, not just for the messages of corporations.

• 13    Laura // Jul 4, 2007 at 8:51 am

  HI I tried to post this example of Culture Jamming on the blog, yet it wouldn’t post. I found it because my friend sent it to me after I showed her the bubble project website. I thought that this was a really clever way to get people to notice the smoking ads. How delusional people are when they try to glamorize smoking. When in reality you are just slowly killing yourself. This was just an outstanding display of how to get people to notice that cigarettes are awful and that illuminating them in bright colors doesn’t change the fact that they kill.

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