Clusterduck
Memes as Hyperstitional Technology

Workshop
FRI, 21 May 2021
2 pm–5 pm
Kino Šiška Centre for Urban Culture, Ljubljana / Online

Registration deadline
SUN, 16 May 2021

Language: English
Max. number of participants: 15

Aimed at:
academics, scholars of political science, sociology and anthropology, web lovers, technology lovers, individual researchers in the political and social field, CCRU fans and occultists and l/accel curious

In the framework of konS – Platform for Contemporary Investigative Art

We all have experienced from our point of view the ugly consequences of what meme and social media propaganda can bear. Recall the incessant online propaganda made by the neo-Nazi and white supremacist media apparatus (the so called alt-right) for which Donald Trump himself has repeatedly shown support: from his infamous tweet of 2015 at the beginning of the electoral campaign, which depicted him in the guise of Pepe the Frog, up to explicit declarations in support of white supremacism, to the devastating consequences that the cult of Qanon has had in dividing friends and families by bringing the most unexpected internet users (from your yoga teacher, to your concerned mum, to a psychedelic shaman) to the verge of conspiracy theories. 

What can we learn from this mess? Can a meme change the reality we live in? Which were the most influential or maybe even magical memes in the history of the web? Can we subvert those mediatic strategies from a grassroots standpoint?

During Memes as Hyperstitional Technology, Clusterduck will introduce the tools and practices which the members of the collective rely on to explore the world of memeology and subcultural internet studies. Clusterduck will then assist the participants during a session of field research into the depths of the social media web. The goal of this session would be to unravel the relationship between Internet memes and hyperstitional technologies. 

We will split the participants into groups to delve further into the research and examine the same object from multiple points of view. We will use Telegram chats and other messaging platforms to share inputs, findings and contributions while drawing connections and producing analyses of the phenomena we encounter. The final part of the workshop will involve mutual work on a digital collage, inspired by the work of Aby Warburg, to resume your research and thus include it in the “Detective Walls” panels of Meme Manifesto.

The workshop is part of Meme Manifesto, a transmedia project about Internet Memes that explores the occult meanings and communicative potentials of memetic symbology, where Clusterduck is investigating different aspects of meme culture through various media: an art book, an interactive website, a physical installation and a participative workshop. The results from Memes as Hyperstitional Technology will be included in the compilation work of Meme Manifesto.

THE AUTHORS

Clusterduck is an interdisciplinary collective working in the fields of new media studies, design and transmedia, investigating processes and actors behind the creation of Internet-based content. It curated the online exhibition #MEMEPROPAGANDA, hosted by Greencube Gallery, which was presented at The Influencers Festival (Barcelona), Tentacular Festival (Madrid), IFFR (Rotterdam), Urgent Publishing (Amsterdam, Arnheim), Radical Networks (Berlin) and others. Clusterduck is currently developing Meme Manifesto, a transmedia project that collectively explores the occult meanings and communicative potentials of memetic symbology. The first stage of the project has been developed at IMPAKT (NL) during this year’s EMAP/EMARE residency programme and presented at ARS ELECTRONICA 2020. Clusterduck also created the participative exhibition #MEMERSFORFUTURE, investigating the role of memetics in the global climate justice movement. The exhibition has been shown at re:publica 2020 and IMPAKT FESTIVAL 2020.

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RELATED EVENTS

Valentina Tanni et al.
Tactics & Practice #11: MemesteticA
Conference
19 May–2 July 2021
Various locations

Clusterduck
Meme Manifesto
Exhibition
19 May–4 June 2021
Aksioma | Project Space, Ljubljana
+
The Detective Wall Guide
Publication