Reading Response

To open the chapter, George W. Bush is spotlighted as the center of parodies and satirical mash-ups that circulated via the web in response to the public’s disapproval of their president. These remixes are great examples of tactical media as satire and parody and demonstrate one of th key factors of tactical media: the use of new technologies to recreate/remix existing media.“Sunday Bloody Sunday” is one great example of a remix that takes portion’s of speeches from both Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair. The sounds bites are recontextualized, creating a satirical rendering of the popular U2 song.

Bush sings “U2”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_vv12NSSZ4&feature=related

Meikle goes on to site numerous Bush parodies and remixes; created from extisting media; recontextualized by uses of new media—the video clips and soundbites are existing media that are completely subverted in meaning when they are rebuilt/refigured by individuals. There is even an example of an online contest (created by virtual band The Bots) dedicated to aggregating Bush sounds bites and video clips to an online database; creating a virtual a la carte menu, where users can interact and sample, creating their own mash-ups and submit their works. These anti-Bush remixes were so pervasive during this time, that the Bush party had to go so far as to buy domain names, such as bushsucks.com and bushblows.com to try to prevent any further negative media creations.

An example is Bush, stammering and stuttering—blurbs and soundbites sampled from speeches and smartly choreographed to the Pixie’s Where is My Mind?

Bush: Where is my Mind?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5u2uMJa0tY

To even things out, here's an Obama remix:

While the Bush parodies are entertaining examples of tactical media, satire and paroday, Meikle tackles the larger concept of tactical media taking on the role of parody and satire—the phenomenon of remixing and subverting pop culture, more specifically, politics, to create a manisfestation of symbolic power. As Meikle states, “Defining reality, carving up and exploiting that resource, is one of the central phenomena of the media.”

The case in point used to demonstrate Meikle’s points about tactical medias are: “Revolution: USA”. Revolution: USA was an 8-week long online tactical media project, launched in September of 2004 just before the elections took place. The intent was to engage participatory media from users, and, ultimately, to create awareness and invoke social change. The site consisted of a US timeline with audio excerpts, brief descriptions and video samples of important political moments and scandals in US history. These clips are available for download, whereby users could use them to create their own remixes and post to the site to share with the public. Remixes consisted of a combination of imagery, video and audio; the project emphasized the idea of participatory culture in tactical media to create symbolic power.

Meikle discusses what he believes are the four crucial aspects that successful tactical media must possess, and how the project "Revolution: USA" successfully achieves all four of these elements.

1) It exploits the potential of new communication technologies

“Revolution: USA” made use of new communication technologies to circumvent the established media. (existing video archive, soundbites remixed)

2) It is built around remixing and reworking found material

Users were encouraged to use existing media, text and imagery to create their own montages/multimedia collages. Meikle aslo sites the example of Guy Debord and the Situationalist movement, and the idea of “reversing the perspective.”

“Detournement is the reshaping of familiar signs into question marks.”

3) The project is satirical

Meikle argues that most tactical media is, by nature, satirical… “Satire is art on the attack; it aims to ridicule and provoke.”

4) It works on the principles of mobility, reinvention, temporariness, and novelty

Idea of tactical media (specifically Revolution: USA) as “exploitation of moments of opportunity”

So the natural question to follow, after discussing all of the attributes that make up successful tactical media is... Does it work? The question of whether tactical media endeavors are detracting from more traditional forms of organization is considered. While tactical media may be engaging, entertaining, satirical, etc., what is it really accomplishing? Meinkle considers the difference between simulated action and real action; online, virtual engagement and participation versus actual, more traditional forms of organization such as sit-ins, meetings or rallies.

Tactical Media As Play

Does tactical media work? Tactical media as play.

Meilke introduces the seemingly opposite and less severe idea of tactical media as play, (in contrast to tactical media as symbolic power) and how this is successfully acheived. Walter Benjamin's concept of readers and spectators becoming collaborators parallels ideas of "successful" tactical media. "A good tactic means people should be having a ball doing it". Brian Sutton-Smith’s book The Ambiguity of Play is introduced, and his seven aspects of play: (which all play into tactical media)

Play as Progress

Play as Fate

Play as Power

Play as the Imaginary

Play as Identity

Play and the Self

Play as Frivolous

The concluding section compares the ideas of symbolic power vs. play in tactical media and whether tactical media as play is any less impactive.

Questions

1) The Situationist Manifesto states: (1960, May 17)

Against the spectacle, the realized situationist culture introduces total participation. Against preserved art, it is the organization of the directly lived moment.

How does this parallel the tactical media examples discussed in this chapter?

2) Debord argued in 1967 that spectacular features like mass media and advertising have a central role in an advanced capitalist society, which is to show a fake reality in order to mask the real capitalist degradation of human life. What impact does this idea of the "spectacle" have on us today, and how do current tactical media projects demonstrate this?

3) Symbolic Power vs. Play

Can tactical media be just as effective if it is fun, entertaining or pleasurable?

4) The winner of the Revolution: USA contest was an interactive flash project in which the user could click certain keys to set off audio clips. What aspect does interactivity bring to tactical media?

5) Meikle describes attributes of tactical media as ephemeral, transitory, opportunistic and mobile. The project Revolution: USA was only 8 weeks long and had quite ambitious goals to create social change. Do you think these goals were met? Does tactical media have the ability to meet large-scale, long-term goals?