On my way to see the amazing/bizarre/incredible/batshit insane Hausu at the IFC Center in Manhattan tonight, I came across this series of posters in the West 4th Street subway station. Graffiti and defacement are common sights around the New York City subways, and usually don’t amount to anything more than scribblings of dicks or blacking out the teeth in people’s smiles. (The one exception is the Poster Boy movement, which is amazing.)
The thing I like about this kind of culture jamming – no matter how puerile – is that it reminds me to not take my pop culture so seriously. The following is a fun example:
The first poster you pass walking up the downtown-side ramp.
I think the guy in the middle looks like he could.
From what I understand, the answer is “no.”
I agree.
Spoiler alert.
10 comments
viral?
What's written on the Kick Ass poster? Too small to read.
It's written: KICK-ASS 'on Nazi thugs'
Looks like there's stuff written over APRIL 16 as well. Anyway – cool poster. Pity the WOM or these fun designs aren't catching on. Should do great on DVD at least.
you call some basic scribbles and scrawls on posters culture jamming? Have you been around NY long enough to SEE the real artful poster recontextualization/deconstruction going on?
This is a piss-poor example of culture jamming and i do not believe for a second you have any clue about what it actually is.
@Scribbles? hey you just filled my quota of comment trolls who don't read the complete post! thanks!
Didn't help them do more than mediocre BO numbers. Looks like no one cares outside of frantic geeks who like to attack people who didn't enjoy it.
That Poster Boy stuff – that's a second grade art project, right?
@#7: Guess it didn't attract the Paedo dollars either huh? Dickhead.
Isn't this why CHUD introduced blogs? Seeing some graffiti on a movie poster doesn't really count as movie news, right? As #4 pointed out, it's not even all that funny or clever graffiti. And before Iain jumps in with another biting defense, I read the whole article and I don't get why this is "culture jamming" either. It's not subversive or witty or anything really. Maybe there should be another new CHUD column called "Things I Saw On The Way To Work Today"
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