Feb 13, 2010
PER.CEP.TION
Per.cep.tion
n.
1. The process, act, or faculty of perceiving.
2. The effect or product of perceiving.
3. Psychology
a. Recognition and interpretation of sensory stimuli based chiefly on memory.
b. The neurological processes by which such recognition and interpretation are effected.
4.
a. Insight, intuition, or knowledge gained by perceiving.
b. The capacity for such insight.
The meaning of information is –in contemporary thought– subjective. It can be perceived as truth, nonsense, art, and of course many other things. Yet, the power of news is that it is generally perceived as the truth. This assumption of truth might be the reason why artists practice aesthetic journalism more and more as a way to critique the perception of information.
News satire has been a strategy to critique society for long as news exists. In the late 19th century, when the newspapers were more widely spread, fake news became a frequently used tool. One of the most famous spoofers was Mark Twain. His hoaxes were so successful and believable, that one newspaper after another fired him. His realization that lies travel faster then the truth, comes back in his later work. As the internet provides more accessible ways to spread news, it gave a whole new dimension to the phenomenon of satire. The most recent successful example are of course the Yes men. A successful Dutch site is www.speld.nl, but the Onion might be the most widely spread one, as well as www.fakingnews.com.
EGBG
EGBG is a Dutch registration research company set up by artist Martijn Engelbrecht in 1994. The company conducts market research on several levels, for his own practice and commissioned. Engelbregt deals with information and privacy issues (his company name actually stands for ‘Once Given Remains Given’ or ‘Engelbregt Information Management Group’). He was one of the people starting to look for the borders of what people voluntarily fill in on questionnaires.
At the hight of the telephone market research hype, EGBG created a guide to counter attack telephone interviewers. The one being questioned becomes the one questioning and the other way around. He also worked for the critical Dutch TV network VPRO, where he mapped the information of all the VPRO employees.
