Mark Dery
Encyclopedia
Mark Dery is an American
author, lecturer and cultural critic
. He writes about "media, the visual landscape, fringe trends, and unpopular culture" From 2001 to 2009, he taught media criticism and literary journalism in the Department of Journalism at New York University
. In January 2000, he was appointed Chancellor's Distinguished Fellow at the University of California
, Irvine In summer 2009, he was awarded a scholar-in-residence position at the American Academy in Rome, Italy.
In 2010, Publisher's Weekly reported that he was writing a biography of the artist Edward Gorey for Little, Brown.
, and earned a B.A.
from Occidental College
in 1982. He identifies his politics as "unrepentantly leftist" and his religion as Church of the SubGenius
. (On his Facebook page, he gives his "Religious Views" as "Godless. And loving it.")
He has written for The New York Times Magazine
, The Atlantic Monthly
, The Washington Post
, Lingua Franca, The Village Voice
, Rolling Stone
, Spin
, Wired
, Salon.com
, "Suck.com
", and Cabinet
, among other publications. He has been a featured guestblogger on the pop-tech website Boing Boing
. Much of his work has dealt with cyberculture
and the cultural effects of the Digital Age.
An early writer on technoculture
, Dery helped inaugurate cyberstudies as a field of serious inquiry with the anthology "Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture" (1994), which he edited. Flame Wars kick-started the academic interest in cyberfeminism
and afrofuturism
, a term Dery coined in his trailblazing essay "Black to the Future" (included in Flame Wars) and a key theoretical concept driving the now-established study of black technoculture.
Dery is also known for his 1993 essay Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of the Signs, in which he popularized the term "culture jamming
," a form of "tactical media
," or guerrilla
media activism
, with roots in Situationism, '60s street theater, the agit-prop photomontages of John Heartfield
, pirate media
, punk zine
s, and the media prank
s of Joey Skaggs
. Widely republished in print and on the Web, Culture Jamming helped spark the guerrilla media activism movement associated with Adbusters
magazine (to whom Dery, as a columnist, introduced the concept). It remains the definitive theorization of this subcultural phenomenon
.
His other key theorizations include the notion of the “pathological sublime”, which he defined on his blog Shovelware as "an aesthetic emotion that is equal parts horror and wonder, inspired by works of art (or nature) that hold beauty and repulsion in perfect, quivering tension. The pathological sublime is the sensation Emily Dickinson had in mind when she wrote, "'Tis so appalling---it exhilarates..."
"Deconstructing Psycho Killer Clowns," his close reading of the Evil Clown Meme, gained widespread attention when the popular blog Boing Boing
posted a link to the SCRIBD PDF of Dery's essay; as of April 23, 2009, the PDF had garnered 3,833 "Reads" and 323 "Downloads."
Dery has written extensively about the British sci-fi author J. G. Ballard
, whom he reads as a preeminent philosopher of the postmodern
. His obituary for Ballard was published by The L.A. Weekly and on the fansite Ballardian.com.
He moonlights as vocalist/lyricist for the performance-poetry duo Bite the Wax Tadpole.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author, lecturer and cultural critic
Cultural critic
A cultural critic is a critic of a given culture, usually as a whole and typically on a radical basis. There is significant overlap with social and cultural theory.-Terminology:...
. He writes about "media, the visual landscape, fringe trends, and unpopular culture" From 2001 to 2009, he taught media criticism and literary journalism in the Department of Journalism at New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
. In January 2000, he was appointed Chancellor's Distinguished Fellow at the University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Irvine In summer 2009, he was awarded a scholar-in-residence position at the American Academy in Rome, Italy.
In 2010, Publisher's Weekly reported that he was writing a biography of the artist Edward Gorey for Little, Brown.
Bio and works
Dery was born in BostonBoston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
, and earned a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Occidental College
Occidental College
Occidental College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1887, Occidental College, or "Oxy" as it is called by students and alumni, is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges on the West Coast...
in 1982. He identifies his politics as "unrepentantly leftist" and his religion as Church of the SubGenius
Church of the SubGenius
The Church of the SubGenius is a "parody religion" organization that satirizes religion, conspiracy theories, unidentified flying objects, and popular culture. Originally based in Dallas, Texas, the Church of the SubGenius gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s and maintains an active presence on...
. (On his Facebook page, he gives his "Religious Views" as "Godless. And loving it.")
He has written for The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine
The New York Times Magazine is a Sunday magazine supplement included with the Sunday edition of The New York Times. It is host to feature articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors...
, The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic Monthly
The Atlantic is an American magazine founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. It quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and publishing new writers and poets,...
, The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, Lingua Franca, The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, Spin
Spin (magazine)
Spin is a music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione Jr.-History:In its early years, the magazine was noted for its broad music coverage with an emphasis on college-oriented rock music and on the ongoing emergence of hip-hop. The magazine was eclectic and bold, if sometimes haphazard...
, Wired
Wired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
, Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, "Suck.com
Suck.com
Suck.com was one of the earliest ad-supported content sites on the Internet. It featured daily editorial content on a wide variety of topics, including politics and pop-culture and was targeted at Generation X...
", and Cabinet
Cabinet magazine
Cabinet is a quarterly, Brooklyn, NY-based, non-profit art & culture periodical launched in 2000. Cabinet also operates an event and exhibition space in Brooklyn.-Section 1: Columns:...
, among other publications. He has been a featured guestblogger on the pop-tech website Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
. Much of his work has dealt with cyberculture
Cyberculture
Cyberculture is the culture that has emerged, or is emerging, from the use of computer networks for communication, entertainment and business. It is also the study of various social phenomena associated with the Internet and other new forms of network communication, such as online communities,...
and the cultural effects of the Digital Age.
An early writer on technoculture
Technoculture
- Definition :Technoculture is a neologism, not currently in standard dictionaries, popularized by editors Constance Penley and Andrew Ross in a book of essays bearing that title.. It refers to the interactions between, and politics of, technology and culture....
, Dery helped inaugurate cyberstudies as a field of serious inquiry with the anthology "Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture" (1994), which he edited. Flame Wars kick-started the academic interest in cyberfeminism
Cyberfeminism
Cyberfeminism is a feminist community, philosophy and set of practices concerned with feminist interactions with and acts in cyberspace. The term was coined in 1991, and feminist individuals, theorists and groups identifying themselves as cyberfeminists were most active in the 1990s...
and afrofuturism
Afrofuturism
Afrofuturism is an emergent literary and cultural aesthetic that combines elements of science fiction, historical fiction, fantasy, Afrocentricity, and magic realism with non-Western cosmologies in order to critique not only the present-day dilemmas of people of color, but also to revise,...
, a term Dery coined in his trailblazing essay "Black to the Future" (included in Flame Wars) and a key theoretical concept driving the now-established study of black technoculture.
Dery is also known for his 1993 essay Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of the Signs, in which he popularized the term "culture jamming
Culture jamming
Culture jamming, coined in 1984, denotes a tactic used by many anti-consumerist social movements to disrupt or subvert mainstream cultural institutions, including corporate advertising. Guerrilla semiotics and night discourse are sometimes used synonymously with the term culture jamming.Culture...
," a form of "tactical media
Tactical media
Tactical media is a term coined in 1997, to de note a form of media activism that privileges temporary, hit-and-run interventions in the media sphere over the creation of permanent and alternative media outlets. Tactical media describes interventionist media art practices that engage and critique...
," or guerrilla
Guerrilla communication
Guerrilla communication and communication guerrilla refer to an attempt to provoke subversive effects through interventions in the process of communication....
media activism
Media activism
Media activism is activism that uses media and communication technologies for social movement, and/or tries to change policies relating to media and communication ....
, with roots in Situationism, '60s street theater, the agit-prop photomontages of John Heartfield
John Heartfield
John Heartfield is the anglicized name of the German photomontage artist Helmut Herzfeld...
, pirate media
Pirate radio
Pirate radio is illegal or unregulated radio transmission. The term is most commonly used to describe illegal broadcasting for entertainment or political purposes, but is also sometimes used for illegal two-way radio operation...
, punk zine
Punk zine
A punk zine is a zine devoted to punk culture, most often punk rock music, bands, or the DIY punk ethic. Punk zines are the most likely place to find punk literature....
s, and the media prank
Media prank
A media prank is a type of media event, perpetrated by staged speeches, activities, or press releases, designed to trick legitimate journalists into publishing erroneous or misleading articles. The term may also refer to such stories if planted by fake journalists, as well as the false story...
s of Joey Skaggs
Joey Skaggs
Joey Skaggs is an American prankster who has organized numerous successful media pranks, hoaxes, and other presentations. He is considered one of the originators of the phenomenon known as culture jamming. Skaggs used Kim Yung Soo, Joe Bones, Joseph Bonuso, Giuseppe Scaggioli, Dr. Joseph Gregor,...
. Widely republished in print and on the Web, Culture Jamming helped spark the guerrilla media activism movement associated with Adbusters
AdBusters
The Adbusters Media Foundation is a Canadian-based not-for-profit, anti-consumerist, pro-environment organization founded in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz in Vancouver, British Columbia...
magazine (to whom Dery, as a columnist, introduced the concept). It remains the definitive theorization of this subcultural phenomenon
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
.
His other key theorizations include the notion of the “pathological sublime”, which he defined on his blog Shovelware as "an aesthetic emotion that is equal parts horror and wonder, inspired by works of art (or nature) that hold beauty and repulsion in perfect, quivering tension. The pathological sublime is the sensation Emily Dickinson had in mind when she wrote, "'Tis so appalling---it exhilarates..."
"Deconstructing Psycho Killer Clowns," his close reading of the Evil Clown Meme, gained widespread attention when the popular blog Boing Boing
Boing Boing
Boing Boing is a publishing entity, first established as a magazine, later becoming a group blog.-History:...
posted a link to the SCRIBD PDF of Dery's essay; as of April 23, 2009, the PDF had garnered 3,833 "Reads" and 323 "Downloads."
Dery has written extensively about the British sci-fi author J. G. Ballard
J. G. Ballard
James Graham Ballard was an English novelist, short story writer, and prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction...
, whom he reads as a preeminent philosopher of the postmodern
Postmodern philosophy
Postmodern philosophy is a philosophical direction which is critical of the foundational assumptions and structures of philosophy. Beginning as a critique of Continental philosophy, it was heavily influenced by phenomenology, structuralism and existentialism, including writings of Georg Wilhelm...
. His obituary for Ballard was published by The L.A. Weekly and on the fansite Ballardian.com.
He moonlights as vocalist/lyricist for the performance-poetry duo Bite the Wax Tadpole.
External links
- Mark Dery's Shovelware
- Culture Jamming: Hacking, Slashing, and Sniping in the Empire of Signs
- Black to the Future: Afro-Futurism 1.0 (archivedInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
copy) - "Nature Morte: Formaldehyde Photography and the New Grotesque---The Pathological Sublime"
- "Deconstructing Psycho Killer Clowns"
- "Mark Dery Interviews CRASH author J.G. Ballard"
- "Mark Pauline's Heavy Metal Theater of Cruelty"
- "Tributes from the Ballardosphere"
- "J.G. Ballard's Pre-Posthumous Memoir"
- "Mark Dery Interviews CRASH director David Cronenberg"
- "Is the Internet Good for Writers?"
- "Remembrance of Tacos Past"
- "Love in the Time of Swine Flu: David Lida’s Affair with Mexico City"
- "Struck By Noetic Lightning: Terence McKenna Meets the Machine Elves of Hyperspace"
- "Wimps, wussies and W.: How Americans' infatuation with masculinity has perilous consequences"
- Bite the Wax Tadpole