Culture Jamming

In the past, I have had great appreciation for culture jamming. I was specifically interested in guerilla marketing. The idea that we are being bombarded with constant advertisements is overwhelming for many people, but for some it is just everyday. I personally do not watch television and this creates great division in my socialization compared to some of my friends. I tend to think differently when certain situations arise, however my ideas my seem obslete. The political nature of this is the idea that our society has a set of rules which stem from popular culture. If not kept up with popular culture through media, one becomes an outsider. This can be positive of negative depending on who you are.

A great spin on guerilla marketing are those whom take advertisements and spin them. Also the movement of street artists that use the same ideas to get you to stop and think. An idea of the latter are trompe l'oeil paintings in public spaces. When applied, the viewer stops and views space differently. Some of these paintings could have historical references as well as social issues. This idea is exciting to me, the push for more of this work will take public space and compete with advertisement to influence. After all, public space is not neutral nowadays.

New Area Discovered!

Parallel Kingdoms

This is a game that I have been playing since the beginning of summer. This game uses GPS to track your current location and works like an RTS (real time strategy) game mixed with RPG (role playing game) elements. It is quite genius how they've used the technology of the GPS. The creators have actually used key points, like airports, to create a similar events such as nests with giants birds that offer particular materials to us to progress into the game. Lakes have aquatic creatures that can only be attacked with weapons like a bow and arrow. Another great feature is the "reposition" command. This command allows the user to relocate their character to the exact spot that they are in the real world at any given time, making the player interact with the actual world to possibly gain advantage within the game world.

The game is a domination type game. When I logged on for the first time, there happened to be a flag smack dab on my house. I was angry to say the least. I instantly attacked the flag and was unable to relinquish control. Come to find out, I needed materials to burn the flag down, then I was emailed by the player whom the flag belonged to. He informed me I had made a bad move and I should evacuate the area or be killed. I then began a siege on the outside of his territory, gathering resources and building up my strength.

The social impact a game like this could have is enormous. The world is actually getting smaller, allowing us to move around in this world so quickly and fluidly. We can kill a dragon and build an empire in a world that parallels our exact world through this GPS technology. We can even interact with others whom have the same interest in this world, creating a self-sustained goal for each player whether we join them or fight against them. The title of the game explains itself, this is in fact a mirror of our world, just as expansive as our own.