BASTARD POP DESIGN, VISUAL REMIX AND MASHUP (BY UN MUNDO FELIZ) M. SONIA DIAZ JIMÉNEZ & J. GABRIEL MARTINEZ GARCÍA SCHOOL OF ART 10 / ESCUELA DE ARTE 10 LOVE@UNMUNDOFELIZ.ORG ISABEL M. GARCÍA FERNÁNDEZ UCM / UNIVERSIDAD COMPLUTENSE DE MADRID MUSEOIG@ART.UCM.ES Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds. (…) Won't you help to sing these songs of freedom? 'Cause all I ever have: Redemption songs; redemption songs; redemption songs. “Redemption Song” (Bob Marley 1980) Tout le monde s'entretue pour un oui ou pour un non, pour un morceau de terre, du fric, ou du poison. Frère pose les armes, essuie tes larmes, donne du love. La Paix, la Paix, la Paix, qu'on veut pour soigner nos blessures, L'amour, l'amour, l'amour qu'on attend depuis des années, des mois et des jours. “Stop Da War” (Sergent Garcia 2003) Every generation gets a chance to change the world. Pity the nation that won’t listen to your boys and girls. ‘Cos the sweetest melody is the one we haven’t heard. Is it true that perfect love drives out all fear? The right to appear ridiculous is something I hold dear. Oh, but a change of heart comes slow. “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” (U2 2009) ABSTRACT Un Mundo Feliz (UMF) is dissident design and do- it-yourself (DIY) activism. We produce “bastard pop design” which is protest design from innovation and the emerging knowledge economy. Cultural activism from the point of view of UMF is defined according to the following paradigms: activism vs. pessimism, everyday revolution, activism design as intangible and autonomous work, manifesto writing as part of the discourse, activist education, graphic activism as a context for emerging innovation and dissemination through new media such as the internet. Within the field of cultural activism, graphic activism should be considered as a controversial site intended to generate public debate and confrontation. It is necessary to provide all the mental and physical tools; in the words of Verson, we need to free our bodies and our minds. Additionally, the group with in which the designers operate must act as a co-builder of the discourse, creating independent meanings (autonomy), alternatives (difference, otherness) and generating free behaviors (as opposed to consumer behaviors). We understand “bastard pop design” and DIY as emergency and anti-panic mechanisms in the