Guerrilla communication and communication guerrilla refer to an attempt to provoke

subversive Subversion () refers to a process by which the values and principles of a system in place are contradicted or reversed in an attempt to transform the established social order and its structures of power, authority, hierarchy, and social norms. Sub ...

effects through interventions in the process of communication. It can be distinguished from other classes of political action because it is not based on the critique of the dominant discourses but in the interpretation of the signs in a different way. Its main goal is to make a critical non-questioning of the existing, for reasons ranging from

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range ...

marketing Marketing is the process of exploring, creating, and delivering value to meet the needs of a target market in terms of goods and services; potentially including selection of a target audience; selection of certain attributes or themes to emph ...

. In terms of marketing, journalist Warren Berger explains unconventional guerrilla-style advertising as "something that lurks all around, hits us where we live, and invariably takes us by surprise". These premises apply to the entire spectrum of guerrilla communication because each tactic intends to disrupt cognitive schemas and thought processing. The term was created in 1997 by Luther Blissett and Sonja Brünzels, with the publication of ''Kommunication Guerrilla Handbook'' (originally in German, translated in 2001 to Spanish and Italian). Both pertain to ''autonome a.f.r.i.k.a gruppe'', which includes many people involved in communication guerrillas such as activists and non-artists living in different German peripheries. However, it was used before in 1984 by Jay Conrad Levinson, as a marketing strategy for small businesses.Jay Conrad Levinson (1984): Guerrilla marketing: Secrets for making big profits from your small business, Houghton Mifflin, Boston.

Forms

One form of guerrilla communication is the creation of a ritual via participative public spectacle to disrupt or protest a public event or to shift the perspectives of passers-by. Such spectacles often take the form of street and

guerrilla theater Guerrilla theatre, generally rendered "guerrilla theater" in the US, is a form of guerrilla communication originated in 1965 by the San Francisco Mime Troupe, who, in spirit of the Che Guevara writings from which the term '' guerrilla'' is taken, ...

. Another way to create such spectacle is via

tactical frivolity Tactical frivolity is a form of public protest involving humour; often including peaceful non-compliance with authorities, carnival and whimsical antics. Humour has played a role in political protests at least as far back as the Classical Greec ...

. Pie-throwing as performance art is a form of guerrilla communication. Other forms of guerrilla communication include

adbusting Subvertising (a portmanteau of '' subvert'' and ''advertising'') is the practice of making spoofs or parodies of corporate and political advertisements. The cultural critic Mark Dery coined the term in 1991. Subvertisements are anti-ads tha ...

graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...

hacktivism In Internet activism, hacktivism, or hactivism (a portmanteau of ''hack'' and ''activism''), is the use of computer-based techniques such as hacking as a form of civil disobedience to promote a political agenda or social change. With roots in hac ...

(notably

cybersquatting Cybersquatting (also known as domain squatting) is the practice of registering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name, with a bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. The term is derived ...

), and

reclaiming In linguistics, reappropriation, reclamation, or resignification is the cultural process by which a group reclaims words or artifacts that were previously used in a way disparaging of that group. It is a specific form of a semantic change (i. ...

. An example of guerrilla communication are the demonstrations taking place since 15 May 2011 in Spain and cities in other countries, such as London, Berlin or Paris. These demonstrations, organized through the Internet, are trying to create awareness among the population about other ways to manage governments, using the motto " Real Democracy NOW!"

Main methods of action

Generally, the techniques and methods used are guided by two principles: distanciation and over-identification. Distanciation is based on subtle modifications in the regular representation, which lights new aspects of the representation and produces by displacement, new meanings unforecast. It consists on taking images, ideas and forms to change the communication process or its usual presentation to create confusion and reconsideration about each own cultural grammar. The new elements in the communication process create perturbations, which are effective to offer a critic vision to general public in front of the traditional point of view. The goal of this method is to create distance in front the existing to gain a new perspective. For example, in the mid-1990s the ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky employed distanciation in order to raise support for a local homeless shelter. Their method included printing posters on dumpsters that said "kitchen" and a "House" poster was placed on bus shelters. Creative director Bogusky had the notion that the homeless "live in separate culture, where things take on new meanings- a bench becomes your bed; a shopping cart becomes your closet". In this case, distinction confronts the passers-by to re-consider the traditional concept of "home" and how this seemingly basic concept is not applicable to homeless people. On the other hand, over-identification means to publicly express those aspects which are well known but still taboo, or consciously disregarded. An effective way of subversion may consist in expressing positively the hidden aspects of the communication in a convincing way, better if it is close to the system dominant logic. This is a call to the background parts of the message not always seen but felt. Another example of over-identification exists in the work of street artist

Banksy Banksy is a pseudonymous England-based street artist, political activist and film director whose real name and identity remain unconfirmed and the subject of speculation. Active since the 1990s, his satirical street art and subversive epigram ...

. In October 2003 he entered the landscape room at the Tate Britain, removed a framed painting from his bag, and glued it to the wall. Beside the work, a rural scene with an image of police tape stenciled over it, the artist placed a card reading: "Banksy 1975.

Crimewatch UK ''Crimewatch'' (formerly ''Crimewatch UK'') is a British television programme produced by the BBC, that reconstructs major unsolved crimes in order to gain information from the public which may assist in solving the case. The programme was o ...

Has Ruined The Countryside For All Of Us. 2003. Oil On Canvas." As mentioned prior, this installation ensures that the "felt message" is also the "seen message". It is a reaction to a culturally dominating institution, Crimewatch UK. It was accomplished in a guerrilla-esque, under-the-radar manner, and it also amplifies a consensus of sentiments towards such institutions.

References

External links

Republicart.net: afrikagruppe "All or None? Multiple Names, Imaginary Persons, Collective Myths"

Handbook Of The Communication Guerilla

The Guerrilla Marketing Handbook

Media hijack

Memefest, international festival of radical communication

* [http://www.copyriot.com/unefarce/no1/artikel/cg.htm autonome a.f.r.i.k.a.-gruppe, Luther Blissettt and Sonja Brünzels, "Communication guerrilla - a message out of the deeper German backwood" / Version 2.0 (all rights dispersed)] {{Media manipulation Culture jamming techniques Underground culture

Forms

Main methods of action

See also

References

External links