Wed 28 May :: 7:00->9:00pm @ MUCS
2000 Northcliffe #218 (use the side entrance)
Commercial advertising has become increasingly abundant in Montreal. In our metro system, visual projectors as well as wallpapered ads are now commonplace in many stations. In our downtown core, billboards advertisements, guerrilla marketers, flyer distributors and visual projectors flourish. In addition, driving billboards or ad trucks display advertisements on their trucks even though they are against Ville Marie and Plateau by-laws.
Many citizens have expressed concern by the increasing commercialization of our urban landscape and have taken action. Culture jamming is a resistance movement to cultural hegemony, executed by means of guerrilla communication. The movement is a form of public activism which is generally in opposition to commercialism, and the vectors of corporate image. It often entails transforming mass media to produce ironic or satirical commentary about itself, using the original medium’s communication method. Montreal is home to many different culture jamming groups.
In this workshop, we will evaluate the role of commercial advertising by analysing it’s history, social implications, production, messages, and audience effects. We will also evaluate culture jamming through an analysis of different groups and campaigns which have took place in Montreal. The focus of the discussion on culture jamming will be to educate citizens about the practice of culture jamming, means of message dissemination, and how to “jam” the image assocaited with a commercial advertising campaign. The workshop will provide participants with knowledge which will help engage with advertising more critically. The activities will consist of a variety of hands on activities and visual examples of advertising and culture jamming campaigns.
For more information, contact Erik at erik@collectivevision.ca