INC Reader #16

Critical Meme Reader II: Memetic Tacticality

Edited by Chloë Arkenbout and Laurence Scherz

The (political) power of memes has moved beyond virtual images. The distinction between the virtual and ‘real life’ no longer applies, or perhaps was never really there. Their effects (or should we say affects?) are moving through digital infrastructures, policy, regulations and bodies. If memes are used as a tool by the alt-right to mobilize people to storm the Capitol and play a substantial role in the Ukrainian war, can they also be used by the left to spark a revolution, as memetic warfare is more immediate and accessible than real-life demonstrations? What kind of labor would that require? What kind of tools and principles would we need? And what if memetic logics of spreading information were applied to spread progressive ideas for a possible future?

Contributors: Pierre d’Alancaisez, Chloë Arkenbout, Bhumika Bhattacharya, Marijn Bril, Savriël Dillingh, Tom Divon, Jasmine Erkan & Emma Damiani, Inte Gloerich, Manique Hendricks, Katrin Köppert, Isabel Löfgren, Geert Lovink, Mariana Manousopoulou, Anahita Neghabat & Caren Miesenberger, Laurence Scherz, Florian Schlittgen, Christine H. Tran, Jordi Viader Guerrero, Jamie Wong and Daniel de Zeeuw, Tommaso Campagna, Eleni Maragkou, Jesper Lust & Carlo De Gaetano.

Copy editor: Geoff Hondroudakis
Proofreader: Laurence Scherz
Cover Design: Tommaso Campagna
Design and EPUB development: Laurence Scherz and Tomasso Campagna
Printing and binding: GPS Internationale Handels Holding GMBH
Cover image: Corinna Haselmayer, Nuremberg, Germany (03/23/2019)

Published by the Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam 2022

ISBN print: 9789492302908

ISBN EPUB: 9789492302915

Contact
Email: viralimageculture@networkcultures.org
Web: www.networkcultures.org/viralimageculture

Get the book here: https://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/critical-meme-reader-ii-memetic-tacticality/

Memes Beyond Images: Memetic Tacticality Conference

When: November 11, 2022

Where: Spui25 Amsterdam, NL

The (political) power of memes has moved beyond virtual images. The distinction between the virtual and ‘real life’ no longer applies, or perhaps was never really there. Their effects (or should we say affects?) are moving through digital infrastructures, policy, regulations, and bodies. If memes are used as a tool by the alt-right to mobilize people to storm the Capitol and play a substantial role in the Ukrainian war, can they also be used by the left to spark a revolution, as memetic warfare is more immediate and accessible than real-life demonstrations? What kind of labor would that require? What kind of tools and principles would we need? And what if memetic logics of spreading information were applied to spread progressive ideas for a possible future?

On the 11th of November, INC invites various theorists, researchers, journalists, activists, designers, and other creatives and thinkers to critically reflect on the tacticality of memes. During a one-day conference at Spui25, we dive into meme activism & political warfare, meme design & labor, and speculative memes & imaginaries. The Memes Beyond the Image Conference is also the launch of the Critical Meme Reader #2.

This conference is free of charge, takes place at Spui25 in Amsterdam, and is also live-streamed. More on that here: https://spui25.nl/programma/memes-beyond-images

Program

10:00 – Introduction by Chloë Arkenbout and Laurence Scherz

10:30 – Meme Activism & Political Warfare

10:30 – The Power of Cuteness and the Cuteness of Power: Fandom Governance in China within the Covid-19 Crisis, by Jamie Wong
11:10 – Russian Digital Warfare Narratives (and Counter-Narratives) on TikTok: On Propaganda in Hyper-Affective and Ambiguous Spaces, by Marloes Geboers and Elena Pilipets
11:30 Benevolent Edgelords: Specters of Benjamin and Memetic Ambiguity, by Pierre d’Alancaisez

12:10 – BREAK

13:00 – Meme Design & Labor

13:00 – Strategies for Situating Memes in Physical Contexts, interview with Cem A. (Freeze Magazine) by Marijn Bril
13:30 – EVERY MEME MAKER WE KNOW IS EXHAUSTED, round table talk with Anahita Neghabat, Caren Miesenberger, Savriël Dillingh, Jasmine Erkan, and Emma Damiani, moderated by Laurence Scherz
14:30 – Capitalist Realism Meme Translation, interview with Annebel Breij by Idil Galip

15:00 – BREAK

15:30 – Speculative Memes & Imaginaries

15:30 – Memes as Speculative Dialectic Images, a conversation between Geert Lovink and Marc Tuters
16:00 – The Rise and Fall of Web4U (2033-2063), performance by Jasmine Erkan and Emma Damiani
16:46 – Like a Virus, by Tommaso Campagna and Eleni Maragkou
17:05 – ‘Then We Could Explore Space, Together, Forever’: On Hope and Memes, by Savriël Dillingh

https://networkcultures.org/events/memes-beyond-images-memetic-tacticality-conference/