Warning! Net art is an art movement, and, like all art movements, can be appropriated to serve a consumerist agenda. The artist uses net art to explore the visual impact of the absolut bottle, one of the most successful icons in the advertising industry, to demosntrate the subversive nature of advertising and design markets.


Barcode Art, or the power of consumerism.

The artist, Scott Blake, uses the barcode, ultimate "icon" of popular culture, to express his ideas about the power of consumerism. Consumerism permeates everything, even religion. His portrait of Jesus assembled using barcodes, he says, 'questions the meaning of any faith; be it in God, technology, or yourself.'


All Catalogs (A-Z).

Penelope Umbrico's piece is about the absurdity of the amount of available mail order catalogs (=useless stuff) listed online (=available evrywhere one looks). If, as consumerism dictates, and as we follow, we are what we possess. Does it mean then, in reference to the propensity of catalogs available, that we live in the absurd?


Google Adwords Happening: The price of words in the technology age.

The artist, Christophe Bruno, explores the idea that any word has its price, according to the demand of the market. In 2002, he connected to google.com to buy some keywords- anybody willing to invest $5 for a word can write a little ad which will be posted on a google search page. "What happens then," Bruno asks, "when a single search engine maps the whole textual content of the web, in which the memory of mankind will be saved? Think of the power in their hands."


Nike's world.

Corporate brands like Nike have permeated popular culture so thoroughly that their appropriation of public spaces, beyond the sports arenas, is just a matter of time. Nike has built an information booth- the 'Info Box'- in Vienna to promote its newest project: a 18m representation of its logo to be mounted permanently in the Vienna public square, thus upgrading the city to a Nike city. At least this is what the art group 0100101110101101.org wants people to believe, to warn people that this is on the verge of happening, and that we have to do something about it.


The etoy warfare

This is a subversive net project initiated by rtmark, in response to the attempt, using unethical means, by the internet toy giant eToy to prevent an unrelated European art group, etoy, to operate a website. The project makes use of various 'games' and requires the input of internet users to denigrate eToy- its ultimate goal being to lower etoy's stock value. As the game's preamble puts it: "...The stakes: art, free expression and life on the internet."


The world's most innovative, unique- and useless- objects

This website is a museum featuring some of the world's most "innovative and unique projects". It is a 'living' proof of the possibility of selling anything anywhere on the web, and reflects on the culture of consumption that we live in- anything can be bought and sold these days, even the most absurd and useless product.


Johnny Rogers v/s Osama Bin Gandalf in the new blockbuster series TITWNIT!!

This project is about the commercialization of news, and the ability of the media to construct a person's/a group's identity using the well-rehearsed structure of Hollywood feature films. It also speaks to the power of the media, when the latter commercializes its stories, to lead the viewer to regard an event according to the way it wants the viewer to see it.


cbots, a new form of subliminal messaging

The project seeks to free our minds by making us aware of images from pop culture that inhabit our minds. These images (ranging from Loony tunes characters to Darth Vader), unconsciously influence our perceptions and decisions in everyday life. Corporations use the internet as a resource to access users whose minds they can control with these images, and can thus lead people to purchase useless products. The aim of cbot is to disrupt those entrenched images by dissecting and distorting them, so that people can have control on the impact of these images in their lives.


The distorted Barbie

This is another work by Napier, the artist quoted in the previous entry. Early in his career, he was very interested in symbolicism and icons in our culture that are "symbols of buying power, proficts, and revenue streams." Barbie- ubiquitous and internationally renowned- the product of current commercial image-making industry, is a perfect subject for an inquiry into the power of symbolicim . If Mattel, the manufacturer of Barbie, has found the site disturbing enough to grace it with legal action, it means that the site has made some impact on them- check it out!!


Those who Rule

They rule is a website which allows users to create maps of the relationships of the US elite ruling class as heads of the most powerful American companies. As corporations mertge and disappear,there are fewer companies out there, but their control of the economy increases. These companies are the most powerful institutions on the planet- they have control of our economy, of our salary, and therefore, of our buying power- yet we have no say in their business.


Adbusters- jam gallery

Adbusters is a group of artists, students, educators and entrepreneurs located all over the world whose mission is to crush the existing power stuctures and alter the way we live. This is their 'spoof ads' page, where they poke fun at some advertisements from well-known brands.


Mosanto: Accurate information on Biotechnology

Mosanto is a giant biotechnology company that embraces the questionnable method of increasing agricultural yield by genetic modification. This website, by the 'Decepticons' uses the authentic Mosanto website template to offer counter information- more accurate information on biotechnology.


The StopE$$o Parody Logo Competition

This parody logo competition was set up by the Greenpeace Cyberactivist Community to educate the public about the damage Esso is doing to the environment and the global climate. It posts the best parodies of the Esso logo that the public has submitted.

Feel free to submit yours!


FREE corporate logos to play with!!

This website offers corporate logos in eps format that you can manipulate to your heart's content for corporate jamming. All your favorite (corporate-jamming) companies are listed there- Mcdonalds, Coca-cola, etc...Have Fun!