prehysteries of new media: >> tactical media

<< preface

this blog is nina wenhart's collection of resources on the various histories of new media art. it consists mainly of non or very little edited material i found flaneuring on the net, sometimes with my own annotations and comments, sometimes it's also textparts i retyped from books that are out of print.

it is also meant to be an additional resource of information and recommended reading for my students of the prehystories of new media class that i teach at the school of the art institute of chicago in fall 2008.

the focus is on the time period from the beginning of the 20th century up to today.

2008-07-02

>> tactical media

the appropriation of mass media, consumer media, media taken from the domain of power to oppose this power and criticize it by making (temporal) use of its own means. It can be described as being activist, fast, hacktivist, temporal, oppositional, nomadic. The intended poassive consumer becomes an active user, re-defining the use of the media for her/his own goals.

other key-phrases:
>> use of dominant media
>> long term strategies vs quick tactics
>> occupying time not space
>> "Don't hate the media, become the media"
>> often combining art and activism
>> availability of cheaper media and open distribution
>> Michelm de Certeau, "The Practice of Everyday Life", 1974
>> consumers as producers

tactival media and art - shortened from wikipedia:
>> tactical media and the situationists' detournement:
Both take over images and words from mass culture in order to convey a new meaning, often going against the mainstream media. The appropriation of elements and the importance of aesthetics seen in detournement are reflected within tactical media.

>> tactical media and dada: Like Dada, tactical media often aims to do the opposite of the media it penetrates: it shocks and reveals an antithesis.

>> tactical media and surrealism: borrowing the idea that a 'truer' experience that the present one is present. Much like surrealism, tactical media also criticizes social, political and cultural elements of a given society through its domain’s techniques.

--> see also Lovink/Garcia, "The ABC of Tactical Media", 1997