Lab+8

media type="youtube" key="6aEKnEaqzD4?fs=1" height="385" width="640" There is no form of art or representation that eludes the political realm. The reason for this is that as beings we all operate as political beings. In art there can be no differentiation between the political and the non political. Each artist builds an identity within society which is heavily influenced by policy and of course norms and values. Art is the reproduction of a given common sense to which the political is a part of. Banksy's Simpson Introduction has much more than just a surface message.

I don't believe that the question should be whether the intro was comedic or not. If it has comedic value for some viewers that may be heavily influenced by the fact that the intro is of the show the Simpsons. The nature of the Simpson's is satirical and funny, so of course the viewer is inclined to chuckle. The greater question is how does Cultural Jamming like this make such a great impact on it's viewers. Why does this form of political art work so successfully. And how does it get passed the network in order to be viewed.

Cultural jamming is done to disrupt. The artist's motive is to create dialogue surrounding his work. Using the platform of a scene viewed hundreds of thousands of times and altering it in a way to shock is going to make people talk. That disturbance in pattern conflicts the emotions of the viewers. Many may not know what to think, where others understand the message being conveyed.