What is Culture Jamming?
Simply put culture jamming means a twist in culture. It is a twist in the culture around us that we pass by without even noticing how jammed it is.
The term culture jamming was first invented in 1984, but it wasn’t until Kalle Lasn that this term became famous. Culture Jamming first happened to him when he went to his neighbourhood supermarket parking lot. He tried to rummage in a bent coin in the supermarket cart coin slot until it completely jammed. Ethical or not did not matter at all, he just let out his anger. And then Lasn simply walked away and went to a local fruits and vegetable store. Once one realise how unethical the consumerism is, instead of suppressing it, they should let their anger out. Because consumer capitalism is unethical, it is not unethical to jam it or reveal the truth beneath.
Culture jamming is an intriguing form of communication that has emerged in response to the commercial isolation of public life. Some people argue that our society is saturated with advertisements, logos, fashion statements, television content, and other “ideas”, which in turn restrain our personal freedom of consumption. We are consumed by these ideas without even noticing the problems they hold, simply turning into the slave of capitalism and consumerism. Therefore, culture jamming makes changes in logos, advertisements, and signs to challenge the ideas we undoubtingly take in — destroying the advertising fantasies.
Culture jamming is a meme based communication. A meme is an idea that spreads from one individual to another on the internet. An example of culture jamming meme could be, a barcode bar being turned into a jail cell or “breathe” being the logo of the infamous red Marlboro cigarette case. These memes act to transmit ideas and have people rethink about the implications of these advertisements or logos.
