Impactivism

Halliburton solves global warming

I saw one of the most brilliant pieces of culture-jamming art I've ever experienced at The Andy Warhol Musuem in Pittsburgh today. In fact, every time I think of it, I can't stop laughing.

The Yes Men's Halliburton parody is in many ways so simple, yet so cleverly executed. And it has quite a delicious sense of the absurd.

At an insurance industry conference last year about disaster preparedness, in a presentation entitled "What Noah Knew," the Yes Men, posing as Halliburton executives, introduced the Halliburton SurvivaBall™, an invention for business executives designed to "save a human being, no matter what mother nature throws at him."

It's a large inflatable suit to weather any environmental disaster that might befall us. A gated community for one, if you will. The exhibit at the Warhol included several inflated SurvivaBalls™, video from the conference, video simulations of people in SurvivaBalls™ withstanding arduous weather conditions, and many fabulous illustrations of its myriad uses and capabilities, including this usage and safety card.

I love to see culture-jamming. Because it's fun. And creative. And because making people laugh is much more memorable than telling them what they're supposed to oppose, or who they should vote for.

I'll let Amy Goodman tell the story below, and you can check out more photos from the "Catastophic Loss" conference here.

My Canadian Friend

My friend Suzy has a unique, unusual and lol (omg) funny blog. If you like sass, comics, an artistic sensibility, Canadian wit, considerable brilliance, a touch of megalomania and a general disregard (yet meanwhile, I suspect, a secret love) for the world you find around you, you should check her out.