Memes as Political Discourse
Overview
Memes and Politics
Memes are those 'units of culture and behavior' that are shared and remixed over time in a community. Breaking pluralistic ignorance , they give rise to an avenue for self-expression which provides ordinary Americans an entirely new way of articulating their beliefs. Thanks to their subversive nature, memes possess the power to influence the impressionable first-time voters in any way desired. Perhaps the time has come to interpret their relevance and existence in U.S. politics.
My Role
UX Designer, Researcher, Content Designer, Visual Designer
Mentors
Prof. Jarrett Fuller, Prof. Davey Whitcraft, Prof. Gaia Hwang, Prof. Maria Echeverria, Prof. John Chaich
Timeline
Jan 2019 - May 2020
The Journey
A body of work exploring multiple
sub-challenges around memes and their role in
U.S. politics
Tap on the thumbnails
to view each project →
ALL ART IS REPRODUCIBLE
DECONSTRUCTING MEMES
THE MEME PODIUM
THE MEME CHAIN
FOUCAULT, MEMES AND INSTAGRAM
MEMES - AN EVERYDAY THING
A NETWORK OF KNOTS
DESIGNING AGAINST DISINFORMATION
AWARENESS AROUND POLITICAL DISCOURSE THROUGH MEMES
MFA Thesis Presentation
Thesis in 8 minutes!
References
A wealth of knowledge
This thesis would not have been possible without the below excellent references:
- Memes to Movements - An Xiao Mina
- The Death of the Author - Roland Barthes
- What is an Author? - Michel Foucault
- The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins
- Memes in Digital Culture - Limor Shifman
- The World Made Memes - Ryan Milner
- Can Jokes Bring down Governments?: Memes, Design and Politics - Daniel van der Velden and Vinca Kruk
- The Routledge Companion to Remix Studies - Eduardo Navas, et al
- The Practice of Everyday Life - Michel de Certeau
- The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future - Kevin Kelly
- The Secret War between Downloading and Uploading: Tales of the Computer as Culture Machine - Peter Lunenfeld
- Power / Knowledge - Michel Foucault