Purpose
Space Hijacking is mental graffiti, designed to change how the space is perceived and take some of the power away from the people who own or design the space. —Space Hijacker Agent Bristly PioneerThe Space Hijackers exist mainly to change the public's perception of spaces it regularly uses, mainly by staging unexpected events. Their explicit objective is "to effect and change the physical space of architecture", and, eschewing violent protest and other forms of transparent direct action, their methods aim "to invade and re-brand corporate space". They believe that the use of physical space is becoming more and more politicised, and thus in order to break apart from that politicisation, they stage events that are typically 'unusual' for that particular space, 'hijacking' it and hoping to change people's perception of the use of that space forever. They believe that increasing politicisation usually leads to increased subordination and discrimination and other forms of domination and control and so Space Hijackers claim to seek to break down and deconstruct society's notions of space. They seek to effect this by attempting to undermine the authority of the owner's "text", confusing and re-contextualising it and thereby making apparent the possibility of an alternative future. Protests tend to be non-violent and Space Hijacker projects usually involved a good sense of fun. Protest strategy includes involving passers-by.
The Space Hijackers have many contacts with other groups, and involve themselves with all sorts, including but not limited to Critical Mass, Indymedia, Rhythms of Resistance samba band, free media collective iconscious, Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping and evoLhypergrapHyCx. The Hijackers pulled several of these groups together in Anarchitecture Week 2005, a week of anti-building related activities in response to, and hosted at the same time as Architecture Week.
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