Culture Jamming / Detournement

Culture jammers ask media consumers to look closer at images and question what they reflect (or neglect to reflect) about society. This is done by making subtle changes that seamlessly integrate into familiar representations of norms, evoking "a double-take" from viewers.

Design and home decor magazines are a familiar sight to anyone who has ever sat in a waiting room. So much so that one might easily look past the many changes made to this image at first glance.

but, look closer and we see the artist presents us with a juxtaposition of homes to homelessness.

As well as the denial required for those two realities to live side by side, and the ways children are taught to continue that culture of silence.

Fairy tales are full of fantasy and embellishment.

but it's often what children's stories leave out that create the most dangerous illusions harboured by society.

Other times we focus on one element of a story...

and miss the more subtle point

This artist uses the devices such as bandwagonning and the use catch phrases to critique the way rape culture is perpetuated in popular culture and social media.

Is loyalty to a monarchy (or nation-state) an admirable pursuit?

Or a sheepish manifestation of group think?

This student uses a magazine cover praising fathers to confront absentee dads.