From Abbie Hoffman to Hothead Paisan: A Brief History (and Practice) of Culture Jamming
The term culture jamming comes from broadcasting terminology for jamming the airwaves and involves ways of making your own media to counter the media messages we see every day. We’ll look at the history of culture jamming, including the Situationists International and the Yippies from the 1960s, feminist zines from the 1980s and 1990s, among others. We’ll watch movies, have discussion, and participate in some low cost/low tech (but potentially high visibility) culture jamming of our own.
Interesting site for culture jammers
I was looking at articles in a journal and this group came up. Their site looks really interesting.
Cutlure Jamming . . . well. Jams!
Hey . . . I wanted to thank everyone who came out for Culture Jamming last night. We watched Can Dialectics Break Bricks and talked a little bit about effective culture jamming and how you might incorporate the Situationist tactic of detourning films and media into your own practice. One person said he would like to detourn Full House, which is a really gool idea.
What is detournment -- I could say come to the next class and find out! Basically it's the practice of taking an existing moving and putting your own dialogue into it for your own purposes (usually political). It never really caught onm but maybe we'll revive the practice!
For class next Wednesday, we're going to watch a re-enactment of the trial of the Chicago 8, charged with conspiracy to disrupt the 1968 Democractic National Convention in Chicago. The film stars Michael Lembeck as Abbie Hoffman (he palyed Julie's husband on One Day At A Time), Peter Boyle as David Dellinger, Robert Carridine (from Revenge of the Nerds) as Rennie Devis and Elliot Gould and Robert Loggie as lawyers Len Weinglass and William Kunstler. It's a really great cast and interspersed with interviews with the original defendants. We're also reading some excerpts from Hoffman's book "Soon to Be a Major Motion Picture."
We also had a suggestion that people see Manufacturing Dissent about Michael Moore. I may do a comparison of that movie with one of Michael Moore's agit prop films in a future class and we can have a discussion about that and mix it up a little.
In the future, we'll discuss the Situationists a little more, look at some 'zines and advertising, participate in Adbusters, and oh so much more!
Feel left out? Don't!. Come to the next sesssion of From Abbie Hoffman to Hothead Paisan and be a part of the conversation!
Weds nights at 7:00, 150 Blegen Hall, University of Minnesota.
Cheers!
