How To Shop Drop

"My most Deviant Art Yet!"

Merhaba Instructabrarians!

One of the things that I love about interning at Instructables is that not only do I get to work with the most creative people in the business on a daily basis, but I also get to work at one of the most creative areas in the world: San Francisco.  SF, like Vancouver, is amazing because everyday something artistically insane is going on.  Whether it's someone yarn bombing Castro Street, or tagging the streets of Market and 3rd , San Francisco has seen it all.

Last month, I myself was partial to this unique culture jamming aspect.  Using the tools I had available at our Instructables Labs as well as the resources at Tech Shop I decided to subvert the cultural institutions, specifically corporate advertising. How so?  By infusing my own brand of counter-culture merchandise inside a popular SF store.  

After a month's worth of dropping and of not getting caught, I can successfully boast about my heretical actions. This is how to subvert culture by SHOPDROPPING/ DROPLIFTING.

Step 1: WTF is Shopdropping/ Droplifting?

According to Shopdropping.net "Shopdropping" was coined by Ryan-Watkins Huges in 2004 "to covertly place objects* on display in a store. A form of "culture jamming".  In 2007, The New York Times  several of these guerilla counter-consumerists who surreptitiously "dropped" their own product based political messages inside popular stores.   

In essence, Shopdropping is a specific type of culture jamming that involves the creation of homemade products and the act of leaving them inside a store. Think of it like the opposite of Shop Lifting where instead of stealing something from a market, you are instead hiding or leaving your own products.  And unlike Shop Lifting, because you are not physically taking anything from a store, this act of deviance is completely legal (but don't quote me on this). 

Notable Shopdroppers include: Packard Jennings, Jeff Eyrich, Ryan Watkins-Hughes, and of course most famously Banksy.

Comments

[poofrabbit]

This is wonderful, oh the ideas you have planted that are now running around inside my head!

[caitlinsdad]

Would this be too obvious...wait, maybe something for Autodesk...

[bajablue]

hahahahahahaha!!!!!

[caitlinsdad]

I forgot to drop the linky...

[bajablue]

lol... pimp that ible!!!! ;-D

[SHIFT!]

That.....is hilarious.

I'll have to get one propped up beside a giant shelf.

[bajablue]

This is fabulous, SHIFT!!!

However, Vancouver is relatively tame compared to San Franfreako.

Toronto, Canada runs a very close second. ;-D

[EBNC]

Where did you find that "Droplifting in 6 Easy Steps" comic? I was one of the contributors to the Free Speech for Sale project (I did "The Transformed (Pitch) Man"), and I don't think I ever saw that when we were putting the website together...

[fungus amungus]

It's the second image in Google Image search right now.

Led to this:
http://weburbanist.com/2007/12/26/shopdropping-the-subversive-art-of-reverse-shoplifting/

[SHIFT!]

Thanks for the link Fungus Amungus!

[EBNC]

Thanks. I think I deserve a big "derp" for not thinking of checking Google myself. I was just excited to see a Droplifting Instructable, and the mention of Free Speech for Sale took me down memory lane. I actually almost did get caught doing this - I was chased out of an FYE store by a security guard after dropping a copy in the Britney Spears bin. :)

It's good to see that people are still engaging in this fun practice. I think I might be inspired...

[rhughes8]

Added a link to this here : http://shopdropping.net/blog

Regardless of what WorldWideWords.org says 'Shopdropping' as a term has been around since at least 2004. Before that, Brazillian artist Cildo Meireles and others were using the same technique in the 70's and 80's. (The Situationists were 'experimenting with the "construction of situations..." ' in the 50's and 60's.)

I add this for people who are interested in the concept, NOT to say 'seen it before' There is always room for ideas to be expanded and continued.

Great work,

RWH
http://shopdropping.net

[SHIFT!]

Duly noted, I will make the correction right now.

Thanks for the link rhughes8! Love your site!

[Kiteman]

Oh, Shift!, you've produced some excellent projects in the past, but this one deserves a standing ovation!

Stick it to The Man!

[mikeasaurus]

This is awesome!

[SHIFT!]

Mike, as the editor of Play and champion of all things weird, I take this as the highest compliment!

[ilpug]

I have been waiting for the longest time for a good Ible' on this, and now that it's here, Wow! A great job if I've ever seen one. I need to start doing this. I make a lot of altered ads, but haven't droplifted yet.

[SHIFT!]

haha thanks ilpug! This was certainly a very cultured experience for me!