The tenth issue of intermission, poking fun at our reliance on and fetishism with new forms of technology and media. These have create novel discourses in which we partake, but cannot understand yet from inside. Sometimes the best philosophies are made entirely out of jokes1. Download PDF.
1 Ludwig Wittgenstein
Note from
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Ads vs. Memes
How is it that a meme about Popeye’s can inspire millions across the USA to storm the fast-food chain? How is it that a meme taken from the TV show Rick and Morty spawns a similar movement but with Mcdonalds? The millions of dollars spent on advertisements by the brands just can’t seem to compete with the power of a single meme.
We (young kids) are the grassroots digital communities stitched together by a culture of big chungus, ugandan knuckles, the area 51 raid, birdsarentreal... our society is one where online virtual reality chat rooms can become incredibly intimate: virtual reality churches offering online baptisms, chat rooms where people share their life’s happiest memories to anime avatars, entire communities based on the simple fact that they drink water... is it the silliness that breaks down the anxieties that keep us guarded?
Where the last inter·mission wanted us to explore past our bubbles of divided communities, this one talks about the value of social media to mend our relationships with each other, one meme at a time.
This is inter·mission.