Cacophony Society - Definition and Overview

The Cacophony Society is "a randomly gathered network of free spirits united in the pursuit of experiences beyond the pale of mainstream society." It was started by members of the now defunct Suicide Club of San Francisco in the USA. According to self-designated members of the Society, "you may already be a member." Particularly well known amongst its members is the novelist Chuck Palahniuk, who has mentioned the Society in both his writings and interviews.

The anarchic nature of the Society means that membership is left open-ended and anyone may sponsor an event. For instance, it advises dressing as Santa Claus and drinking all weekend (SantaCon), or, in animal suits and going bowling. Usually the events and participation criteria are such that it is easy to identify others who are participating, but perhaps difficult to identify them later in ordinary circumstances.

The San Francisco Branch of the Cacophony Society was involved early on in the annual Burning Man festival after Michael Michael attended the event at Baker Beach in 1988 and publicized the 1989 event in the Cacophony Society newsletter. Other significant events created by the Society are: the Atomic Cafe, the Zone Trip, the Chinese New Year's Treasure Hunt, picnic on the Golden Gate Bridge, the Brides of March and the Sewer Tour.

Cacophony could be described as an indirect outgrowth of the surrealist movement. The Society has tenuous links to the Church of the Subgenius.

Flash mob activities share some ideas with cacophonist theory, though a lot less thought is generally involved when creating flash mobs.

External link

• The National Cacophony Society's official web site (http://cacophony.org/)
• The San Francisco Cacophony Society (http://www.zpub.com/caco/)