In Washington DC I picked up a copy
of "Temporary Autonomist Zone" by Hakim Bey at a trendy lounge/book
shop. The subtitle of the book - "Ontological Anarchy, Poetic
Terrorism" - quickly caught my attention. I am a fervent reader, so as
I read any given book I automatically tend to link them to books that
I've read in the past. This book tied into a number of other topics and
titles of interest such as Kale Lassn's "Culture Jam," and Daniel
Quinn's "Beyond Civilization." 
Anarchists are crazy, I believe, but one
day will grow up to be socialists or maybe libertarians. Anarchists are
too philosophical and I have to admit that this is one of the reasons
why I've stayed away so long from their doctrine.
Activism is one of the primary components of a democratic culture.
"Sure, democracy one day [every four years] on a ballot is nice," I wrote back in January,
"but how about an organized group of homeless taking an abandoned
building, dividing it, and administering it from a day to day basis?
Now that's organic democracy."
Graffiti art (either against or for the government,) ethic
consumerism, public discourse, and culture jamming keep a society on
its feet and allow for rarely-touched topics of popular interest to
surface through our every day actions. Some of the most democratic,
open, honest, and straight forward political debate I have ever seen
was on the wall of a bathroom stall. Means for the public to express
themselves are much needed and when absent phenomena such as billboard
hi-jacking, vandalism, and pirate radio are fully justified.
Every
generation needs its Luddite. It's the primitivist that keeps the
future in check and which maintains the balance. In "The Affluent
Society," economist John Kenneth Galbraith writes that
So
great has been the change that many of the desires of the individual
are no longer even evident to him. They become so only as they are
synthesized, elaborated and nurtured by advertising and salesmanship,
and these, in turn, have become among our most important and talented
professionals. Few people at the beginning of the nineteenth century
needed an adman to tell them what they wanted. p. 2
Ads serve their purpose but in a sense they have hi-jacked society. Thus, folks such as the Billboard Liberation Front (source of the photo to the right) and Ad Busters
who advocate various forms of culture jamming are just hi-jacking it
back. "Don't picket-vandalize. Don't protest-deface. When ugliness,
poor design & stupid waste are forced upon you, turn Luddite, throw
your shoes in the works, retaliate," says Bey. (p. 12.)
Sometimes such actions have an agenda.
At other times they wish to tickle our curiosity and provide the
grounds for cultural transformation or questioning - no matter how
small the meme. Bey refers to culturally taunting jamming (referred to
in this book as Poetic Terrorism, or PT):
"The audience
reaction or aesthetic-shock produced by PT [poetic terrorism] ought to
be at least as strong as the emotion of terror - powerful disgust,
sexual arousal, superstitious awe, sudden intuitive breakthrough,
dada-esque angst - no matter whether the PT is aimed at one person or
many, no matter whether it is "signed" or anonymous, if it does not
change someone's life (aside from the artist) it fails...
Don't do PT for other artists, do it
for people who will not realize (at least for a few moments) that what
you have done is art. Avoid recognizable art-categories, void politics,
don't stick around to argue, don't be sentimental; be ruthless, take
risks, vandalize only what must be defaced, do something children will remember all their lives... p. 5"Not destruction," Bey later notes, "but a jolt to complency." (p. 12)
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