Ming the Mechanic:
Commerce Jamming

The NewsLog of Flemming Funch
 Commerce Jamming2005-03-28 14:11
4 comments
picture by Flemming Funch

An assortment of troublemakers have fun throwing wrenches into the wheels of commerce. To make a point, I guess, about commercialism and consumerism and big corporations. Like there's gatt.org, a parody of a World Trade Organization website, so well done that they've accidentally been invited to speak at WTO conferences, which they exploited to the hilt with outrageous performances. Here are some other exploits:
A group calling itself Whirl-Mart infests the halls of commerce with site-appropriate dance: The ritual consists of interested humans arriving at a predetermined Wal-Mart at 12 noon on the first Sunday of every month and proceeding to push empty shopping carts slowly and silently through the aisles. Eventually, all of the participants locate one another and form a single-file chain of anti-shoppers which weaves, wanders, and whirls throughout the different departments of the store for about an hour. Overall, it is a soothing and fun experience for the actors, and perhaps a memorable spectacle for shoppers. It is a collective reclamation of space that is otherwise only used for buying and selling. It is a symbolic display of the will to resist the capitalist ideology. And, it is a living, breathing, moving, evolving sculpture.

A parody group calling itself the Organization of Corporations Against Coöperation staged a protest against small business and in favor of giant corporations. They picketed a small bookshop with signs saying things like "Size Does Matter" and urged passers-by to patronize instead huge chain bookstores. The same group later managed to get a branch of one such giant bookstore chain to close for one day - they masqueraded as a pro-corporate taskforce who was monitoring local anti-corporate activity and said that a planned protest might get out-of-hand, recommending that the bookstore close up shop for the day of the protest.
Or, how about the guys who create prayer services where they gather in supermarkets to worship the wonderful products that we're presented with. "Praise the fresh chickens and their fleshy whiteness!". Yeah, halleluja.


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4 comments

28 Mar 2005 @ 15:09 by swanny : Farmers Intermarket
Well here I am in Alberta with nothin to eat
and not much money to spare and wonderin what
to do for breakfast and ponderin that a lot of good
food is probably goin to waste as I speak
Lots... I'd bet and so what good is the web
when you're hungry but then .... necessity says
well why isn't there some sort of internet
farmers market concept where I could buy good
local food somewhere like eggs and milk and bread
and sausages stuff I suppose legally healthwise
and bylaw wise too So if there are any farmers
lookin to give a good deal to a hungry Albertan
in Red Deer.... I got a few pennies....
yikes now thats a concept yes but what about
a local internet site a local venue and some
distribution.... dern
all I wanted was breakfast not a coperate conglomerate  



29 Mar 2005 @ 02:41 by astrid : Ming, this is just.....
... toooo funny!!! I am so glad there's truly CREATIVE people out there DOING Things to wake up others!!!.... THANKS. (been laughing my butt off reading 'bout all these creative actions)  


28 Apr 2016 @ 22:02 by Millie @188.143.232.32 : rhPeUCyEyAmE
Maalyalsh good to hear that Muhsine! I kept checking on your blog alost daily if you have any updates on baby Esra! Felt so much better seing her adorable pic!!:)  


29 Apr 2016 @ 04:57 by Janai @188.143.232.32 : vtgYfOrXFCFUeNHzx
they have doctor approval and go slow over uneven pavement but still. Just seems like tht17#82a&;s not an ok thing to do with a 1 month old. Can’t you guys just all go for a walk together and then train for the marathon on your own?  


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