Culture Jamming

through the
graffiti art of
Banksy
Copyright © 3471809, 3604172 and 3654242.

This publication is a student work created for the Project Report of MACS390 Media, War and
Peace. It is intended only to educate and inform the general public. In all cases the utmost care
has been taken to ensure that all images and information within this publication have been
correctly referenced.

Furthermore, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any way

(including and especially within Google, Amazon or any online organisation), in any form or by
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information storage system, without the strict permission of the copyright holders.

Due to the publication of this booklet on Facebook, the copyright owners are the University of
Wollongong students who created the work.

Cover Image | Original artist Banksy, reproduced and accessed at http://www.toxicocultura.com/blog/?p=1893

Imagine a city where graffti wasn't
illegal, a city where everybody
could draw wherever they liked.
Where every street was awash with a
million colours and little phrases.
Where standing at a bus stop was
never boring. A city that felt like a
party where everyone was invited. Not
just the estate agents and barons of
big business. Imagine a city like that
and stop leaning against the wall --
it's wet.
‘Work grounded in protest - against fascism, moral hypocrisy, the
Vietnam War, and so on - is the closest thing we have to an art that
zeroes in on a crisis of public conscience and attempts to provoke
viewers to think about their own relationship to a social upheaval
close at hand.’

Dan Cameron, ‘Inconsolable’ in Doris Salcedo (Dan Cameron is senior curator of the New
Museum of Contemporary Art). Image by Banksy.
Contents
What is Culture Jamming 1

Jamming the Jammers 2

Who is Banksy? 5

Banksy and Culture Jamming 6

Wall and Piece 9

Banksy and the Media 12

A Banksy Showcase 13

References and Further Reading 17

Images | http://losinghours.blogspot.com/2011/01/prolific.html
What is culture
jamming?
Culture Jamming refers to acts or demonstrations which aim to ‘jam up powerful
corporate media messages’ by undermining marketing rhetoric, or persuasive
techniques1.

Culture Jammers often target corporations or critique consumerism and

capitalism, although some jammers also ridicule governments and politics2.
Their aim is to change the way that people see the world, and who holds the
power in our society. This means that they must question the dominance of
political structures and consumer culture3.

Examples of culture jamming include ad parodies, media hoaxing, corporate

sabotage, billboard liberation, trademark infringement and graffiti art, as well
as other, more elaborate stunts4.

Culture jamming is really all about resistance. It’s about speaking out against
what we have been told to think by corporations and governments. Culture
jamming is both an act of anarchy and disobedience, and a celebration of the
power of human agency to question, reject, modify, or incorporate dominant
ideologies and cultures; to critique oppression; and to work toward social justice5.

1 Kimball, 2008 and Harold, 2004

2 Brisman, 2010
3 Sandlin, 2007
4 Sandlin, 2007 and Harold, 2004
5 Sandlin, 2007
1
Jamming the
Jammers
Something as important as resisting what governments and multi-million
corporations tell society is going to have its challenges. Culture jamming faces
two main problems: dissemination and hypocrisy.

Dissemination
Because acts of culture jamming involve defacing billboards or posters, or
spraying graffiti on walls, many people may not have the opportunity to see it
and read the message. Sometimes culture jams are only seen at a glimpse, from
the window of a moving car or bus. Sometimes councils have them taken down
or painted over before too many people get to see them.

A solution might be to take a photo or video of the jam in order to preserve it,
but unfortunately, it needs to remain in a public space in order to achieve social
or political force1.

Image | Banksy
1 Raychaudhuri, 2010
2
Hypocrisy
Some people see culture jammers and their messages as no better than
advertisers. Brisman2 describes culture jamming as a kind of ‘puritanical
finger-waving, serving as little more than a hipper version of a Public Service
Announcement’.

For many people, being told what is best for them or how to think about
the world is no more welcome coming from culture jammers than it is from
governments and corporations.

Culture jams also use parody to communicate their messages, but many
marketing ploys have embraced this technique as well. Parody, while effectively
making fun of the original advertisement or message, also does not offer any
productive alternatives. Many people see culture jamming as negative and
cynical, rather than as a positive form of resistance3.

2 Brisman, 2010
3 Harold, 2004
3
All images | Banksy

4
Who is Banksy?
Banksy is a notorious British graffiti artist whose work is a potent and
sophisticated form of culture jamming. He is known internationally as a
rebellious rule breaker and a social critic1.

Although his real identity is very much a secret (possibly because graffiti is
illegal), his alias ‘Banksy’ is famous for his provocative and politically-charged
stencil graffiti and his museum interventions2. Museum interventions involve
Banksy entering museums in disguise and installing his own artistic creations
inside. He does this without permission and it is often a few days before his
‘intervention’ is discovered by museum staff.

The urban space is Banksy’s canvas. He has drawn on buildings, billboards,

trains, cars, animals, music records, other people’s paintings and many other
objects3.

Banksy’s artworks encourage anarchy, incite the powerless, “question existing

structures of authority”, and fight for a redistribution of power4. He often uses
rats in his graffiti art, as symbols of pestilence, the underground, and the unseen.
Other examples of his art mock authoritative figures, such as the two British
police officers kissing, or the image of a police officer urinating in public. By
portraying the officers in compromising situations, Banksy attempts to strip
them of their power through the use of irony5. Much of Banksy’s art works in
this manner, although his most stirring work is that found on the Palestinian
Separation Barrier.

1 Truman, 2010
2 Stephens, 2006
3 Raychaudhuri, 2010
4 Stephens, 2006
5 Stephens, 2006 and Truman, 2010
5
Banksy and
Culture Jamming
Many culture jammers feel that governments and corporations have ‘taken
over’ the public space1. Banksy feels that his graffiti art can be used as a tool
to fight against “the usurping of our public spaces by corporations and their
advertising hoardings”2.

Many culture jammers reject the one-way flow of marketing information and
feel that it is unfair that individuals cannot afford to counter corporate messages
with their own views in the public space3. Similarly, Banksy sees marketing
information as a vindictive form of vandalism, invading the public space and
influencing public opinion without ever asking permission.

The point of culture jamming for many activists is to talk back to the images
they never asked to see (Brisman, 2010), and Banksy is no different. He aims to
return the public space to public ownership by challenging the idea that public
space can only be bought and owned by private institutions4.

1 Brisman, 2010
2 Raychaudhuri, 2010
3 Brisman, 2010
4 Raychaudhuri, 2010
6
 "Any advert in public space that gives you no
choice whether you see it or not is yours; You can
do whatever you like with it. Asking for permission
is like asking to keep a rock someone just threw at
your head. They -the companies - have rearranged
the world to put themselves in front of you. They
never asked for your permission, don't even start
asking for theirs"

banksy

7
The wall is the weapon of choice to hit back. A wall is a very big weapon. It
is one of the nastiest things you can hit someone with.

Clean buildings, and the appreciation of them, are as much a part of

authority and control as police patrols and prisons; and the markings of
graffiti writers are as much a threat to this as are protest marches and
rent strikes

Jeff Ferrell in Confronting the Agenda of Authority, 1994

8
Wall and Piece
In 2002 the Israeli government began construction of a ten-meter high concrete
wall which would separate the main water, agricultural and infrastructural
resources from six-and-a-half million Palestinian refugees1. Banksy himself has
described the wall as ‘the world’s largest open prison’2.

In 2005, Banksy visited Palestine and painted nine murals on the wall. One
image appears as though a hole has been blasted through the wall, and a child
stands on the other side. For many, this is a comment on how children should be
free to enjoy their innocence and their childhood, and a reminder of the reality
of the conditions in which they are confined3.

1 Brisman, 2010 and Petrides, 2006

2 Petrides, 2006
3 Ibid
9
So, why did Banksy do this?

Banksy has used his voice as an artist to non-violently criticise the Israeli
government, the Separation Barrier and the treatment of the Palestinian
refugees. By painting on the wall, Banksy is “undermining the Israeli ownership
of the wall and the very legitimacy of the wall in the first place”4.

However, while he was painting the murals, a Palestinian man approached

him and said, “You paint the wall, you make it look beautiful”, to which Banksy
replied, “Thanks”. The Palestinian man then clarified by saying, “We don’t want
it to be beautiful, we hate this wall, go home”5.

Similarly, when Saunders was documenting the graffiti in Ar-Ram, a Palestinian

man enquired as to what he was doing. Saunders explained his research and
asked the man what he thought of the graffiti. The man said, “I don’t want their
spray paint on the wall, I want them to get their governments to stop this, to
pressure the Israeli government and to make this wall disappear”6.

Does this mean that culture jamming is not nearly forceful enough? Is it too
easy for governments and corporations to ignore? Is a different kind of protest
needed?

4 Raychaudhuri, 2010
5 Saunders, 2011
6 Ibid
10
11
Banksy and the
Media
Banksy has been received both positively and negatively by the media. Some
portray him as a menace, and call his work ‘glorified vandalism’1 (Warholian
TV). Others have called him a ‘guerrilla artist’, a ‘robin hood’ and an ‘art terrorist’
– whether because of his controversial work or his highly secretive identity –
either way, the international media are fascinated by Banksy.

In recent times the media have looked more favourably on Banksy, especially
as he has gained credibility through publishing four books and organising
legitimate (as well as illegal) exhibitions. His artwork is also featured in
mainstream galleries and his work can sell for hundreds of thousands of
dollars2. He is absolutely headline-worthy and even similar artworks around
the world make it to the news just for being comparable.

1 Warholian TV, 2010

2 Raychaudhuri, 2010
12
A Banksy
Showcase

A comment on peace, and especially the Western view of peace. The dove
wearing a bullet-proof jacket and hovering in the line of fire questions whether
the Western world is really aiming for peace at all.

13
 Instead of a car park, build a real park!

Statue of Liberty - not all she’s cracked up to be.

14
It is easy to become addicted to his work. Since
spotting my first few Banksies, I have been des-
perately seeking out more. When I do come across
them, surreptitiously peeping out of an alley or
boldly emblazoned on a wall, I find it hard to
contain myself. They feel personal, as if they
are just for me, and they feel public as if they
are a gift for everyone. They make me smile and
feel optimistic about the possibilities of shared
dreams and common ownership.

Banksy fan.

15
16
References and
Further Reading
Banksy (2011) All images from personal website: http://www.banksy.co.uk/
index2.html

Brisman, Avi (2010) ‘Creative Crime’ and the phytological analogy, published
in Crime Media Culture, Vol 6 (2): 205 – 225

Harold, C (2004) Pranking Rhetoric: “Culture Jamming” as Media Activism,

published in Critical Studies in Media Communication, Vol 21 (3) 189 – 211

Kimball, D (2008) OurSpace: Resisting the Corporate Control of Culture,

published in The Velvet Light Trap, No 62, 85-87
Sauders, R. R (2011) Whose Place is This Anyway? The Israeli Separation
Barrier, International Activists and Graffiti, published in Anthropology News,
p16

Wettergren, A (2009) Fun and Laughter: Culture Jamming and the Emotional
Regime of Late Capitalism, published in Social Movement Studies, Vol 8 (1) 1-15

Petrides, M (2006) Chadors and Graffiti, EU Flags and Iconic Bodies: Four
Contemporary Visual Artists, accessed online at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/
opticon1826/archive/issue1/VfPChadorsandGraffitisPDF.pdf

Raychaudhuri, A (2010) ‘Just As Good a Place to Publish’: Banksy, Graffiti and

the Textualisation of the Wall, published in Rupkatha Journal, Vol 2 (1) 50 – 58

Sandlin, J. A (2007) Popular Culture, Cultural Resistance and Anticonsumption

Activism: An Exploration of Culture Jamming as Critical Adult Education,
published in New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, No 115, 73 –
82

17
Stephens, S (2006) Fun with Vandalism: The Illegal Street Art of Shepard
Fairey and Banksy, accessed at http://etd.ohiolink.edu/view.cgi?acc_
num=ucin1148076772

Truman, E. J (2010) The (In)Visible Artist: Stencil Graffiti, Activist Art, and the
Value of Visual Public Space, published in SHIFT: Queen’s Journal of Visual and
Material Culture, No 3, 1 – 15

WarholianTV (2010) Banksy San Francisco (SF) News w/Mike Cuffe of

Warholian.com accessed at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx3agYZKthM

18
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