Digital Art and Political Revolt

Langdon, Melissa

doi:10.1007/978-1-4939-1270-4_4

Melissa Langdon Ph.D.²

1979 Accesses

Abstract

Building upon the discourses on digital art explored in previous chapters this chapter engages with art work sthat explore the idea of political revolt. These radical expressions show how digital art can both perpetuate—and break free from—earlier discourses and practices in art. This chapter focusses on the tactical art of Ross Mawdsley, ®™ark, and The Yes Men. It shows how resistance can be innovative, creative and essentially artistic. Their works are contextualized in terms of backlashes to globalisation and expressions of political revolt. This chapter suggests that while the form may be different, digital art messages often continue dialogues established by earlier works of art.

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Notes

1.
Ross Mawdsley, Simian, <http://www.simian.nu>, 2000, (accessed 6 February 2001). This link is no longer active.
2.
Ross Mawdsley, ‘Revolt’, Simian, <http://www.simian.nu>, 1993, (accessed 6 February 2001).
3.
The phrase was used by Public Enemy on their album: It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold us Back, New York, Def Jam/Columbia Records, 1988.
4.
Ross Mawdsley, ‘Tokyo Love Hotel Mistake’, Simian <http://www.simian.nu>, 2000, (accessed 6 February 2001). This link is no longer active.
5.
Ross Mawdsley, ‘Tokyo Love Hotel Mistake’, <http://www.simian.nu.
6.
Ross Mawdsley, ‘Tokyo Love Hotel Mistake’, <http://www.simian.nu>.
7.
Lev Manovich, The Language of New Media, p. 44.
8.
Lawrence Grossberg, Dancing in Spite of Myself: Essays on Popular Culture, Durham, Duke University Press, 1997, p. 155.
9.
See: eToys, <http://www.etoys.com>, (accessed 6 July 2014).
10.
See: Etoy,<http://www.etoy.com>, (accessed 6 July 2014).
11.
See: ®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com/legacy/etoymain.html>, (accessed 26 April 2007). Link no longer active.
12.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com
13.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com>.
14.
®™ark was later forced to remove all Lego® images from their campaigns.
15.
<http://www.rtmark.com>, ®™ark, (accessed 4 March 2007).
16.
Coco Fusco, ‘The Unbearable Weightness of Beings: Art in Mexico after NAFTA’, The Bodies that Were Not Ours: And Other Writings, London, Routledge, 2001, p. 70.
17.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com>.
18.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com>.
19.
Lawrence Grossberg, Dancing in Spite of Myself, p. 154.
20.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com>.
21.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com>.
22.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com>.
23.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com>.
24.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com>.
25.
The Yes Men, <http://www.theyesmen.org>.
26.
The Yes Men, <http://www.theyesmen.org>.
27.
The Yes Men, <http://www.theyesmen.org>.
28.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.org>.
29.
The Yes Men, <http://www.theyesmen.org>.
30.
The Yes Men, <http://www.theyesmen.org>.
31.
The ‘Group of Eight’ refers to the eight global economic powers: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, the United Kingdom, andthe United States.
32.
The Yes Men, <http://www.theyesmen.org>.
33.
The Yes Men, <http://www.theyesmen.org>.
34.
Jonathon Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo, (Eds.), The Anthropology of Globalisation, p. 14.
35.
The Yes Men, ‘CNBC Market Wrap Still’, <http://www.theyesmen.org/en/node/112>. Link is no longer active.
36.
Pierre Bourdieu, ‘The Myth of ‘Globalisation’ and the European Welfare State’ in Acts of Resistance: Against the New Myths of Our Time, Cambridge, Polity Press, 2001, p. 38.
37.
Jonathon Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo, (Eds.), The Anthropology of Globalisation, p. 13.
38.
Kenneth Frampton and Paul Ricoeur, ‘Towards a Critical Regionalism: Six Points for an Architecture of Resistance’, in Hal Foster (Ed.) The Anti-Aesthetic: Essays on Postmodern Culture, Seattle, Bay Press, 1983, p. 16.
39.
Kenneth Frampton and Paul Ricoeur ‘Towards a Critical Regionalism’, p. 16.
40.
Jonathon Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo, (Eds.), The Anthropology of Globalisation, p. 11.
41.
The Yes Men, <http://www.theyesmen.org>.
42.
Laurie Schneider Adams, The Methodologies of Art, p. 59.
43.
The Yes Men, <http://www.theyesmen.org>.
44.
Laurie Schneider Adams, The Methodologies of Art, p. 63.
45.
Laurie Schneider Adams, The Methodologies of Art, p. 62.
46.
For a discussion of this idea see: Alan Bradshaw, ‘The Alienated Artist and the Political Economy of Organised Art’, Consumption Markets&Culture , Vol.9 , Issue 2, June 2006, pp. 111−117.
47.
Julian Stallabrass, Internet Art, p. 95.
48.
®™ark, <http://www.rtmark.com>.
49.
The Yes Men, ‘Still from The Yes Men Fix the World’, The Yes Men,<http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/>, 2009, (accessed 17 December 2010).
50.
Michael Heim, Virtual Realism, p. 3.
51.
Michael Heim, Virtual Realism, p. 3.
52.
Andrew Darley, ‘The Digital Image in the Age of the Signifier’, p. 127.
53.
Geert Lovink, Dark Fiber, p. 263.
54.
Geert Lovink, Dark Fiber, p. 263.
55.
Geert Lovink, Dark Fiber, p. 262.
56.
Julian Stallabrass, Internet Art, p. 95.
57.
Geert Lovink, Dark Fiber, p. 271.
58.
Geert Lovink, Dark Fiber, p. 257.
59.
Julian Stallabrass, Internet Art, p. 90.
60.
Julian Stallabrass, Internet Art, p. 89.
61.
Julian Stallabrass, Internet Art, p. 89.
62.
Julian Stallabrass, Internet Art, p. 89.
63.
Julian Stallabrass, Internet Art, p. 94.
64.
Julian Stallabrass, Internet Art, p. 59.
65.
®™ark,<http://www.rtmark.com/rtcom/protester>.
66.
Akhil Gupta and James Ferguson, Beyond Culture, p. 6.
67.
Marc Augé, The War on Dreams, p. 6.
68.
Marc Augé, The War on Dreams, p. 6.
69.
Marc Augé, The War on Dreams, p. 6.
70.
Marc Augé, The War on Dreams, p. 7.
71.
Marc Augé, The War on Dreams, p. 7.
72.
Marc Augé, The War on Dreams, p. 7.
73.
Jonathon Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo, (Eds.), The Anthropology of Globalisation, p. 13.
74.
Scott Weiland, ‘Sense, Memory and Media’, <http://www.digitalartsource.com/content/featur/feat17/feat17p1.html>.
75.
Scott Weiland, ‘Sense, Memory and Media’, <http://www.digitalartsource.com/content/featur/feat17/feat17p1.html>.
76.
Laurie Schneider Adams, The Methodologies of Art, p. 62.
77.
Geert Lovink, ‘An Insider’s Guide to Tactical Media’, p. 271.
78.
Geert Lovink, ‘An Insider’s Guide to Tactical Media’, p. 271.
79.
Ulf Hannerz, ‘Notes on the Global Ecumene’, p. 38.
80.
Peter Brooker, (Ed.), Modernism/Postmodernism, p. 24.
81.
Jonathon Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo, (Eds.), The Anthropology of Globalisation, p. 13.
82.
Jonathon Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo, (Eds.), The Anthropology of Globalisation, p. 13.
83.
Jonathon Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo, (Eds.), The Anthropology of Globalisation, p. 13.
84.
Jonathon Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo, (Eds.), The Anthropology of Globalisation, p. 14.
85.
Geert Lovink, Dark Fiber: Tracking Critical Internet Culture, Cambridge, Mass., MIT Press, 2002, p. 257.
86.
Geert Lovink, Dark Fiber, p. 257.
87.
Geert Lovink, Dark Fiber, p. 257.
88.
Ulf Hannerz, ‘Notes on the Global Ecumene’, p. 40.
89.
Pierre Bourdieu, ‘The Myth of ‘Globalisation’, p. 31.
90.
Geert Lovink, Dark Fiber, p. 261.

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University of Notre Dame, Fremantle, WA, Australia
Melissa Langdon Ph.D.

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Melissa Langdon Ph.D.
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Langdon, M. (2014). Digital Art and Political Revolt. In: The Work of Art in a Digital Age: Art, Technology and Globalisation. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1270-4_4

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-1270-4_4
Published: 21 August 2014
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-1269-8
Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-1270-4
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