private lives as public theater: from Wells to Banksy

Some Background into our culture of Surveillance:

In recent years, televisions's reality shows and talent competitions have offered people a conflicted chance at fame, while various kinds of Web-Based social media have pioneered new forms of communication that people increasingly use to perform their private lives as public theater.

Durning the same period, governments worldwide have asserted vast new powers of surveillance, placing unwitting "participants" on an entirely different kind of stage.

Discussion Topics:

What are some examples of Web-Based social media have pioneered new forms of communication that are used to put our private lives of public display?

How important is "fame" to the average person?

Do people follow the trends set by popular media?

Is it appealing for people to invite others to view our private lives?

Soliciting the collaboration of others with (and without) their knowledge:

Orson Wells

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_for_Fake

Culture Jamming

Culture jamming, coined in 1984, denotes a tactic used by many consumer social movements^[4] to disrupt or subvert mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. Culture jamming is often seen as a form of subvertising. Many culture jams are intended to expose apparently questionable political assumptions behind commercial culture. Common tactics include re-figuring logos, fashion statements, and product images as a means to challenge the idea of "what's cool" along with assumptions about the personal freedoms of consumption.

Culture jamming sometimes entails transforming mass media to produce ironic or satirical commentary about itself, using the original medium's communication method. Culture jamming is usually employed in opposition to a perceived appropriation of public space, or as a reaction against social conformity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shepard_Fairey

Banksy is an anonymous British graffiti artist, political activist, film director and painter. Hissatirical street art and subversive epigrams combine irreverent dark humour with graffiti done in a distinctive stencilling technique. Such artistic works of political and social commentary have been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world

Street Art, Situationists and 

Détournement and 

Dérive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Situationist_International

And: EXIT THROUGH THE GIFTSHOP..

Watch in class

start at 24:24