I'm not going to try to write out a definition of what culture jamming is, because I might not do it justice. Instead, I'm going to use two examples that Ian gave us in class that stood out in my mind, and that helped me to understand the concept and why it is so useful in our society.
The first example is the alteration, modification, and rearrangement of billboards. The most popular example of these are the billboards that are created and displayed by Ron English. They are highly satirical, and reflective of the society that we live in today. Of late, the billboards have reflected the recent American Presidential election, but they range from commenting on oil prices, to the "deceiving" qualities of Fox News. English is taking something that is mundane and trivial, and turning it into a pop culture phenomenon. It is particularly effective since billboards are seen by thousands of people every day, and on a huge scale. He is changing what we perceive to be advertising and the media, which is something that occasionally we all need; we need to be reminded of what is really out there in the media world, and what we can do with it.
Another example, although not as poignant as Ron English's billboards, is a photograph Ian showed us from France. Graffitied onto the sidewalk the words "Obeis, Travaille, Consomme, et Tes Toi" (Obey, work, consume, and shut up) caught my attention, and not just because I understood what it meant in French. It seemed oddly out of place, and like a very accurate commentary on society. I say accurate because that is what we're meant to do in our society now: we work, we consume like no one's business, we obey (the trends, the media, everything) and we shut up and don't argue.
So as much as I personally can't give you my defintion of culture jamming, I hope that these examples will make it a bit clearer for you, as they did for me.
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