Title:
Meme Pool: Appropriate & Replication in Pop Culture from Dada to Digital
Author: Publication Year/Date: May 2024
Lou A. R. SmallDocument Version: Fine Art Hons dissertation
License: CC-BY-NC-ND
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20933/100001303
Take down policy: If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.
Meme Pool: Appropria�on & Replica�on in Pop Culture from Dada to Digital
Lou A.R. Small
Fine Art BA (Hons)
Word count: 6845
A disserta�on submited in par�al fulfilment of the requirements of a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) degree in Fine Art
Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design
University of Dundee
2024
ABSTRACT
This disserta�on inves�gates the prevalence of the appropria�on, replica�on and reproduc�on which has defined visual culture for the past century. The body of research charts the development of crea�ve prac�ces in an age of unprecedented advancement in technology and the development of mass culture, from the Dada cri�que of the sudden wave of mechanisa�on brought forth by the First World War, through to the present age of the digital artwork. This progress is analysed through the theore�cal lens of Walter Benjamin’s wri�ngs on art and mechanical reproduc�on, and Richard Dawkins’ meme theory, ques�oning the nature of authen�city and considering the way in which ideas transmit and mutate between people through crea�vity The poli�cal power of the appropriated image is considered at length, drawing comparisons between the replica�ve photomontages of the Berlin chapter of the Dada movement and the implica�ons of the meme as a staple of modern poli�cal discourse. Key examples of mid to late 20th century examples of appropria�on art are also inves�gated, raising ques�ons which challenge the conven�ons of authorship and the associa�ve value which a name can bring to an art object. This paper ul�mately seeks to make a case for the use of pop cultural reference as a standalone medium in contemporary art research and prac�ce, advoca�ng for the use of mass culture and new technologies to narrow the distance between art and life.
Marcel Duchamp, L.H.O.O.Q. or La Jocund, 1964 (replica of 1919 original),
Coloured reproduc�on, heightened with pencil and white gouache,
comp: 10-1/4 x 7 in. (26.0 x 17.8 cm); sheet: 11-3/4 x 7-7/8 in. (29.8 x 20.0 cm),
image courtesy of Norton Simon Museum 1.2
Yves Tanguy, Joan Miró, Max Morise, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky),
Cadavre Exquis, Nude, 1926-27, Composite drawing of ink, pencil, and coloured pencil on paper, 14 1/8 x 9" (35.9 x 22.9 cm),
image courtesy of Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Umberto Boccioni, States of Mind I: The Farewells, 1911, Oil on canvas,
96.2 x 70.5 cm, image courtesy of Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
2.2
Umberto Boccioni, States of Mind II: Those Who Go, 1911, Oil on canvas,
70.8 x 96.5 cm, image courtesy of Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Umberto Boccioni, States of Mind III: Those Who Stay, 1911, Oil on canvas, 95.9 x 70.8 cm, image courtesy of Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
John Heartfield searching through magazine bins, Paris, Photograph, 1935, image courtesy of the John Hear�ield Exhibi�on
John Hear�ield, Millions Stand Behind Me! Small Man Asks for Big Presents, 1932, Rotogravure, image courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
John Hear�ield, Adolf the Superman: Swallows Gold and Talks Tin, 1932, Rotogravure, image courtesy of the John Hear�ield Exhibi�on
5 Finger hat die Hand, John Hear�ield, 1928, s�ll from The Tomorrow People, 1973 and cover from self-�tled System of a Down album, 1998 2.8
Hannah Höch, Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany, Collage, 1919, 44 9/10 × 35 2/5 in | 114 × 90 cm, image courtesy of Artsy
Andy Warhol, Green Coca-Cola Bottles, 1962, Acrylic, screen-print, and graphite pencil on canvas, 82 3/4 x 57 1/8in. (210.2 x 145.1 cm), image courtesy of Whitney Museum of American Art
3.2
Sherrie Levine, Fountain (Madonna), 1991, Cast bronze, 15 x 15/2 x 25 in. (38.1 x 39.4 x 63.5 cm), image courtesy of Simon Lee Gallery and Paula Cooper Gallery
Charles A. Ridley (Bri�sh Pathé), Hoch der Lambeth Walk, 1941, Newsreel, image courtesy of Bri�sh Pathé
Chris�an Marclay, The Clock, 2010, Video, projec�on, colour and sound (stereo), image courtesy of Tate
Marshmallow Laser Feast, Just for Hits Richard Dawkins, 2013, Video projec�on, image courtesy of Marshmallow Laser Feast 5.2
Donald Trump’s 2015 Pepe meme tweet, courtesy of Know Your Meme
INTRODUCTION
‘As a dog returns to his own vomit, So a fool repeats his folly’ – Proverbs 26:11 (New King James Bible, 1982)
This proverb is analogous of the regenera�ve, cannibalis�c nature of popular culture. It has always been the case that culture is deriva�ve of that which has come before. Some of the most praised examples of popular culture take clear reference or even directly appropriate other sources to produce something new. The emergence of digital culture has proven this to be the case in the clearest terms. The poten�al for ideas to be freely distributed and manipulated by an en�re network of users has revolu�onised popular culture, but it has also made it clearer than ever before that complete originality without precedent is non-existent. The internet represents a convergence of media and ideas from across human history; it is possible to infinitely reproduce and manipulate art works or cultural icons from all �me periods. Digital culture represents the mass-produced object in a new form. This realisa�on has huge significance for visual ar�sts, offering a resource of accessible material which has the poten�al to be appropriated into new work and ideas in almost infinite succession. The evolu�on in the concept of materiality which is represented by digital media is crucial on a socio-poli�cal, philosophical and crea�ve level, and a case must be made for embracing the principals of open access and appropria�on across all forms of media. A�erall, as Pablo Picasso reputedly once said, ‘Lesser ar�sts borrow; great ar�sts steal.’ (Shoemate 2012)
The reasoning and analysis in this disserta�on share a crucial rela�onship with the crea�ve processes which I employ in my own prac�ce. The basis of my work is to atempt to show the way in which pre-exis�ng images, films and, on occasion, objects can be manipulated into new
contexts and meanings. My genera�on has been brought up in a period of major advancement in digital culture, seeing the advent of YouTube, social media and an explosion of internet meme culture along with it. This is a feature of modern popular culture and communica�on which is extremely commonplace, as almost all forms of digital visual culture consist of sharing infinitely replicable and changeable media – par�cularly in the case of the internet meme.
My prac�ce has for some �me been centred on the poten�al to create elaborate collage edits using pre-exis�ng video, sound and narra�ve. My aim is to exemplify my understanding that the process of deriva�on and reproduc�on is the most culturally significant aspect of visual media and indeed, has been since the turn of the 20th century, star�ng with the Dada movement. Theore�cal discussion around the mechanical reproduc�on of artwork has been a constant feature since the advent of photography, and the ques�on of authen�city and originality in the field of crea�ve prac�ce along with it. I would argue that replica�on, with elements of parody, sa�re and surrealism is and has for long been a powerful tool in the field of contemporary art prac�ce and offers an important cri�que of the technological advancement and massproduc�on which has been witnessed in the past century. This will serve as a way for me to develop my understanding of my own crea�ve process and gain more insight into my interest in appropria�on, the dis�nc�ons between high and low culture and the use of the meme as an ar�orm.
1.1: L.H.O.O.Q. or La Jocund, Marcel Duchamp, 1916
Consider the shock which would have been invoked by Marcel Duchamp’s (1887-1968)
L.H.O.O.Q. (1919); an early example of appropria�ng a reproduced image of the Mona Lisa and claiming it as an original artwork, simply by drawing a beard onto her face. This is arguably one of the first acts which brought visual culture into an age which has most heavily influenced our own; this postcard is essen�ally a meme. A vast por�on of the visual culture we absorb in the present day is an extreme form of what Duchamp produced. Social media is awash with appropriated images and sounds which are constantly circulated, reedited and redistributed with new contexts and meanings. Even on a blockbuster scale it has become commonplace for film producers, likely under the assump�on they are appealing to public demand, to con�nually rehash movies in the form of endless sequels, litered with self-referen�al content to the point of parody.
There is considerable scope to analyse digital pop culture through the lens of Dadaism and Surrealism, as there are significant parallels between these art movements and the absurd, anarchic and mocking nature of meme culture. There is also a clear argument to be made for this based on the socio-poli�cal similari�es between the present age of digital culture and those of the early 20th century: both �me periods which have witnessed the rapid accelera�on of technology within two decades and been le� to make sense of the preceding uncertainty. History has repeated itself; the advancement of technology devastated a genera�on during the First World War, leaving faith in exis�ng ins�tu�ons at breaking point. This is what the Dadaists sought to comment on by subver�ng tradi�on through shock culture. The mocking, absurd phenomenon of meme culture is arguably a similar reac�on, with an en�rely new genera�on rejec�ng an increasingly dystopian socio-poli�cal landscape by appropria�ng images in a subversive manner. The internet has democra�sed the crea�on and sharing of
media to such an extent that it is almost out of control, with social media companies now largely unable to completely stop individuals from breaching copyright rules. Pla�orms like TikTok are rife with innumerable itera�ons of memes and viral content in the form of sounds and videos. The poten�al for mass subversion through visual media is vast and would likely have been of par�cular interest to movements like the Dadas and Surrealists; the digital age has made the readymade a staple feature of modern visual culture which can be distributed to a worldwide network. The precipice of an explosion of ar�ficial intelligence is also of great significance in this regard, as it is now possible to generate completely random combina�ons of pre-exis�ng media, akin to the Surrealist ‘exquisite corpse’; the algo-rhythmic parlour game which produced grotesque figures, collaged by mul�ple par�cipants.
1.2: Cadavre Exquis with Yves Tanguy, Joan Miró, Max Morise, Man Ray (Emmanuel Radnitzky), Nude, 1926-27
This paper will seek to offer a compara�ve view between the avant-garde art movements of the early 20th century and early 21st century digital culture through the analysis of examples of recognised artworks and digital media. Analysis of the origins of the meme and its precedents in popular culture will also be considered. The resolu�on will provide a case in support of the use of Dada methods in modern visual culture as a means of providing an accessible, poli�cally charged and freely distributable art form; in addi�on to demonstra�ng the cyclical progression of visual culture over the past century. The case will be made for the use of the meme as a poli�cal tool and form of social commentary.
The
Avant-garde
as Memes
Popular culture is cannibalis�c in nature, and this has become most apparent over the past century due to unprecedented technological advancement. This started with the rapid accelera�on of produc�on at the turn of the 20th century, brought on by the vast industrial appe�te of mechanised warfare. This is a feature of life since that �me which has dominated human culture – the ever-increasing desire for mass-produced commodi�es, pulp literature, magazines, adver�sements, films and now digital media. This cycle of appropria�on over �me is reflected in modern day popular culture and crea�on of visual media.
The overwhelming technological advancement at the turn of the twen�eth century brought results which society could never have an�cipated and ar�s�c movements like the Futurists were blindsided by the devasta�on of the First World War; even losing many of their key figures to the conflict through their fervent adherence to interven�onism (McKever, 2016)
Their an�cipa�on of a near future which would bring unparalleled technological progress, ‘order’ and na�onalis�c triumph through militarism was repeatedly proven to be disastrously inaccurate over the coming decades un�l 1944 when the movement ended along with fascism, which founding Futurist Filippo Marine� (1876-1944) had fervently supported: even naming Adolf Hitler as a beacon of new Futurist principles in 1939, epitomising his belief in ‘the aesthe�cs of War, and War as the world’s only hygiene ’ (Ialongo 2015, 281) This was a far cry from the an�cipated world of driving progress and dynamism reflected in Futurist artworks like Umberto Boccioni’s (1882-1916) States of Mind series. (Boccioni 1911)
The emergence of Dadaism ini�ally came as a reac�on against this ‘order’, militarism and authoritarianism; in direct contrast to the Futurist no�on that ‘beauty exists only in struggle’ (Marine� 1909). The promise of the established order had succeeded only in bringing about widespread destruc�on and a crea�ve movement was established which reflected the principals of an�-eli�sm, an�-aesthe�cism and the rejec�on of established logic. Tristan Tzara (1896-1963), a founding Zürich Dadaist spoke of the necessity for the rejec�on of logic in his Dada Manifesto, a call to destroy decadence and tradi�onalism:
‘Logic is a complication. Logic is always wrong. It draws the threads of notions, words, in their formal exterior, toward illusory ends and centres. Its chains kill, it is an enormous centipede stifling independence.’ (Tzara 1918, 4)
The precipice of a new age of technology and crea�vity had succeeded only in revealing the worst excesses of violence ever witnessed in human history un�l that point. The Dadaists sought to reject the ins�tu�ons and cultural norms which they believe had brought about these events through an anarchic absurdism, advoca�ng for all forms of art crea�on on the principle of novelty. There was an inherent view of nihilism, par�cularly amongst the early Dadaists, likely in direct opposi�on to religious adherence, tradi�onal social structures and the concepts of morality which they imposed:
‘Carry on, my children, humanity, kind bourgeois and journalist virgins… I am against systems; the most acceptable system is on principle to have none.’ (Tzara 1918, 3)
This was a development in art which first brought the concept of appropria�on and replica�on to the fore, cas�ng aside the former separa�ons of discipline and narrowing the distance between art and life.
Surrealism is essen�ally an offshoot of Dadaism but with an illogical and absurd commentary focused more specifically on psychoanalysis and dreamlike experience. Nonetheless, these movements can be discussed in similar terms for the purpose of analysis as they share many conceptual atributes. For example, there is a clear lineage from the early appropria�on works of Duchamp like Fountain (1917) down the line to more surreal found object works like the Lobster Telephone. (Dalí, 1938)
The comparison between the Dada movement and present-day meme culture is well established in conceptual terms. It is clear from the evidence set out that Dadaism brought forth a revolu�on in the defini�on of art and brought the idea of the massproduced object as an artwork to the fore. The link between the memes of today, which o�en seek to express dissent or disillusionment through sa�re, display a clear lineage which can be traced back to Dada ar�sts of the 20th century. The art of propaganda and protest is par�cularly 2.
associated with the Berlin chapter of the Dada movement. This was appropriate given the extent of poli�cal upheaval and public sense of having been failed by established ins�tu�ons in the early 20th century. The use of appropria�on to sa�rical ends amongst the Berlin Dadas was par�cularly prevalent, sweeping away bourgeois pretensions and forming an early popular art form which could effec�vely convey a message; one which was o�en inextricably linked with revolu�onary fervour. (Hughnet, Scolari 1936, 9)
John Hear�ield (1891-1968) is a par�cularly illustra�ve example; the Berlin ar�st who is one of the first to be credited with producing ‘photomontages’, otherwise known as photocollages, and who became widely recognised for his ability to weaponize the artwork. His later composi�ons were made at significant personal risk, as they primarily sought to protest the rise of Nazism and therefore depicted leading party members in a nega�ve, mocking light.
These mass-produced images would have been distributed on the cover of magazines on a Europe-wide scale, spreading an effec�ve message in defiance of Hitler and revealing the inherent corrup�on behind his rise to power. His work was purposeful in its composi�on, with objects and imagery me�culously chosen to convey his message, in contrast to many of his contemporaries who opted for collage methods based on incidental selec�on. He was an ac�ve member of the KPD, or German Communist Party, and much of his photomontage work served to further the message of the movement even a�er the Nazi party seized power. (Selz 1963, 326)
The revolu�onary style and reproducible nature of Hear�ield’s images led them to be distributed widely and this is why they are s�ll instantly familiar to this day, echoed by similar itera�ons of poli�cal propaganda memes. Perhaps his most famous and las�ng image ‘5 Finger hat die Hand’ (Hear�ield 1928) has reflected the regenera�ve theory of the meme, spawning various itera�ons and becoming recognizable as a mo�f of le�-wing resistance in popular culture; par�cularly in its recrea�on on the cover of the self-�tled album by ‘System of a Down.’ (System of a Down 1998) This demonstrates the poli�cal power of regenera�ve
imagery, or memes, in their ability to convey a message across a broad audience and over a significant period of influence.
A contemporary of Hear�ield who was similarly instrumental in pioneering the photomontage was Hannah Höch (1889-1978), whose works took a similarly cri�cal view of the poli�cal climate of her �me, sa�rising the gender issues of the interwar Weimar republic in Germany through her work Cut with the Kitchen Knife Dada Through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany. (1919) Her appropria�on of certain imagery, primarily the use of so-called ‘primi�ve’ sculpture in her collage which portrayed racial stereotyping and cultural appropria�on has quite rightly received retrospec�ve cri�que (Schaefer 1997/98, 37), but her method nonetheless provided some of the pioneering examples of the photomontage. Höch took a more cryp�c or metaphoric approach to the text-based photomontage when compared with the func�onal direc�on of Hear�ield, resul�ng in more busy, chao�c works which are in some ways less reproducible than the later’s design-centric magazine and poster works. However, the socio-poli�cal cri�que in the content serves a similar purpose. Parallels can clearly be drawn with the methodology of Dadaism and Surrealism with the anarchic, absurdist or weaponised poli�cal content which has passed down into contemporary pop culture. The
methods and principles of replica�ve imagery con�nued to influence the direc�on of art and design past the interwar period and into the mid twen�eth century, gradually being subsumed and commodified as an aspect of mainstream culture, giving rise to the kitsch.
Appropriation, Replication, Commodification
The ever-increasing demand for commodi�es and capital con�nued to shape the output of the visual arts into the mid 20th century. Indeed, this theme can be seen to extend right through the 1940s and beyond in tandem with one another, brought on by a second age of mass produc�on and condensed technological advancement, once again catalysed by war. Art cri�c Clement Greenberg (1909-1994) laid the theore�cal founda�ons for this next phase in the development of culture in his essay on Avant-Garde and Kitsch (1939), discredi�ng the rise of the kitsch as a lesser form of culture, brought about by a surge in industrialisa�on and demand for mass-produced commodi�es:
‘Kitsch is mechanical and operates by formulas. Kitsch is vicarious experience and faked sensations. Kitsch changes according to style but remains always the same.’
The post-war age of mass urbanisa�on and standardisa�on was the next significant evolu�on of art as reproduc�on. Pop Art emphasised the kitsch as an ar�orm, seeking to create interdisciplinary forms across culture which blurred the lines between high and low art, marking a shi� from aesthe�cs as a dis�nct aspect of culture to being an all-encompassing part of life. Kitsch media, contrary to the expecta�ons of Greenberg, began to take a shape which could be recognised as a form of high art, distanced from commercialism This meant that Pop Art extended into mul�ple cultural forms including music, literature and fashion in addi�on to more tradi�onally formal disciplines. This marked a turning point where the ar�orm began to embrace commodifica�on through replica�on in a new way, represen�ng an
ar�orm withdrawn from the no�ons of authen�city and sacredness as described by Andreas Huyssen in The Great Divide, where he claims that Pop Art was the embodiment of a form against the former tenets of ‘no touching, no trespassing, the museum as a temple, the artist as a prophet, the work as relic and cult object.’ (1986, 179)
Despite their methodological similari�es, the Pop Ar�sts perspec�ve on the readymade object differed significantly from the inten�onal shock value purposely generated by the an�aesthete Dadas. The ar�orm sought to bring out the aesthe�c beauty of the common object and subvert it into something which can be treasured and admired. Wri�ng on Marcel Duchamp’s approach to the readymade, founding Dadaist Hans Richter (1888-1976) described the ar�sts inten�onal and pointed an�-aesthe�cism as ‘expressions of the emptiness of the world through which we stumble.’ (1964, 90) In a 1962 leter, Duchamp laid bare his conceptual disdain for the ‘Neo-Dada’, Pop Art included, by discredi�ng the newer movements admira�on for his ready-mades based on false interpreta�on:
‘I threw the bottle-rack and the urinal into their faces as a challenge and now they admire them for their aesthetic beauty.’ (Richter, 1964, 207-208)
Among the most prominent of Pop ar�sts, Andy Warhol (1928-1987) represents the instantly recognisable face of post-war culture. Repe��on and appropria�on were crucial to his works, pilfering the likeness of mass-media and produc�on or as he stated:
‘Images that anyone walking down the street would recognise in a split second –comics, picnic tables, men’s pants, celebrities, refrigerators, Coke bottles.’ (MoMA, 2024)
His industrious, mechanical methods of making and almost total dependence on commercial iconography, heavily influenced by his beginnings as a designer, disrupted the world of high art by steering it into an age where it would eventually be subsumed by mass culture. It was a style built for consump�on, an atempt to bring the apprecia�on of art out of the hands of a select few and into a relatable format. This development reflects much of the philosophy of the earlier avant-garde, narrowing the distance between art and life through appropria�on and replica�on.
The works of Sherrie Levine (1947-) represent a further development in the conceptual evolu�on of art appropria�on. Her por�olio is largely comprised of parodic reproduc�ons of works by many of the prominent white, male modernists, including Marcel Duchamp, offering a much-needed feminist cri�que of ownership and authen�city. Levine sought to raise new ques�ons in the field by considering the conceptual power of recontextualiza�on, whilst challenging one of the principal aspects of tradi�onalism in art which the Avant-Garde had made very few atempts to mi�gate: the dominance of highly praised famous men. (Pollack, 2011) Levine’s work is an interes�ng theore�cal challenge to the mys�que of authen�city and authorship which the AvantGarde failed to dispel, raising important ques�ons about the
value which society places on the artwork, even it is materially worthless beyond its associa�on with a name.
The underpinning concepts of Pop Art and Appropria�on Art are reflected heavily in new visual media, par�cularly in the form of meme culture and the growing trend of the nonfungible token or NFT in the realm of digital art. This form of commodified digital image derived from cryptocurrency raises new ques�ons about the authen�city and value of the artwork. The scale of commercialisa�on and the significant move from analogue reproduc�on into digital have been the driving factors of a con�nually evolving Neo-Dadaism. The phenomenon of collec�ng Monas, commodified digital memes which consist of defaced portraits of the Mona Lisa, are clearly the descendants of Duchamp’s L.H.O.O.Q, serving a similar conceptual purpose but likely failing to inspire the same public shock and disgust as the original defacement. (Lyubchenko, 2022) However, this current form arguably betrays the poli�cally weaponised and an�-bourgeois principles of the 20th century Avant-Garde. Despite the shared methodology with the Dadas and significance of humour in many NFTs, the looming aspect of mone�sa�on distances the art movements from one another on an ideological level, represen�ng a form of poli�cal statement through artwork which is more representa�ve of the liberalisa�on of trade, as opposed to freedom from censorship and tradi�onalism. Nonetheless, the digital artwork in a non-commercial context can s�ll possess much of the same power without having been reduced to the status of a commodity.
Film, Vids and Remix Culture
Many of the most interes�ng examples of appropria�on can be seen in the realm of film. The moving image has served as one of the most significant mediums of popular culture from the early 20th century to the present day. Film is arguably the most fer�le source for repurposing images and narra�ves and has been used extensively to this purpose. In its reedited form, collage can be extremely effec�ve at subver�ng the original meaning of a film. It can be argued that film as a medium is essen�ally an advanced form of collage, composed from various repurposed parts to convey a narra�ve, or lack thereof. This is likely why film was of such interest to key ar�sts of the Dada movement, in addi�on to the mediums defining automa�c, mechanical processes.
The pioneering use of animated photograms in the films of Man Ray (1890-1976), where an impression of objects is transferred onto photographic paper, demonstrated the mediums capacity for u�lising appropriated imagery. (Jones, 2015) The an�-narra�ve composi�on of his 1923 film Return to Reason (1923) inten�onally defies the conven�onal principles of logical narra�ves, and takes the form of a series of abstract, collaged photograms interlaced with some heavily exposed camerawork.
Perhaps one of the first examples of the directly appropriated film collage was Joseph Cornell’s (1936) re-edit of the film East of Borneo, en�tled Rose Hobart a�er the lead actress. The film
takes the form of a homage to Hobart, principally depic�ng her gestures and expression whilst played at the speed of a silent film through a blue filter, with the dialogue replaced by scavenged kitsch records. Cornell premiered in 1936 at the Julian Levy Gallery in New York. It is documented that Salvador Dalí, who was present at the screening, flew into a rage, knocking over the projector and accusing Cornell of having stolen the idea for collaged film, or to quote the more poe�c account: ‘He stole it from my dreams.’ (Frye, 2001) The transforma�ve quali�es of appropriated moving images were arguably first brought to the fore by this work, becoming one of the first in a lineage of remixes which form an integral part of popular culture to this day.
These methods can be used to sa�rical ends with powerful results, like that seen in the 1941 Bri�sh Ministry of Informa�on newsreel edit Hoch der Lambeth Walk by Charles A. Ridley (Pathé, 1941) This consists of collaged excerpts of Leni Riefenstahl’s Triumph of the Will (1935), cut in �me with the famous Lambeth Walk dance, which was hugely popular in war�me Britain, but had been lambasted as an example of ‘degenerate’ culture by the Nazi regime. There is a great deal of familiarity in this example of film collage, perhaps due to the prevalence of remix culture in modern viral memes. The las�ng influence of the film collage is clearly demonstrated in this work, despite Charles Ridley remaining a rela�ve unknown, as the reel was broadcast widely and
was even brought to the aten�on of Josef Goebbels, who reputedly erupted in a fit of rage upon seeing the film. The power of sa�re and ‘ridiculing the grandiose’ with the moving image was exemplified here, with Danish resistance members going so far as to embark on deathdefying raids to force projec�onists at theatres to screen the clip before the main feature. (Barnouw, 1983) It is fascina�ng that a rela�ve unknown like Ridley had the foresight to create what is effec�vely a precursor to the 21st century remix meme, which parallels the YouTube Poop genre of digital video edits from the early days of the website.
The development of the readymade film in this vein has undoubtably persisted and evolved through to the 21st century. The constant companion of this medium has been technological advancement, steadily increasing in prevalence through to the digital age. It became a feature of grassroots subcultural fandom in the mid-1970s, with the emergence of the first known example of vidding: fan generated remixes of television shows or films set to music. Kandy Fong, broadly recognized by the community as the first vidder, expressed her adora�on for Star Trek by crea�ng a slideshow projector reel of s�lls from the programme which she set to popular music. (Coppa, 2022, 69) The subculture con�nued to develop with the increased prevalence of the VCR, enabling complex moving image edits which were albeit reasonably difficult to achieve given the limited nature of the hardware. As shown through archive footage in the online documentary Vidding: The Art of Edits, the use of this early recording so�ware required a tedious degree of �ming to achieve the desired result; relying on the use of a stopwatch to manually determine the various cuts in the video. (Dzenita, 2021) Despite these limita�ons, the vidding community grew into a significant subculture, mee�ng at regular conven�ons to screen and swap material. (Coppa, 2022, 2)
The subsequent advent of YouTube made a revolu�onary contribu�on to the development of remix culture, sparking the emergence of a new wave of video crea�on, echoes of which can be seen across the more recent pla�orms of TikTok and Instagram to this day. YouTube represented a turning point in ‘participatory culture’ (Burgess and Green, 2009, vii), democra�sing the voices of video creators, including those of the remix subculture, and enabling content to be broadcast widely. The YouTube Poop genre began with an upload by a 15-year-old user in 2004 and consisted of a simple cartoon remix, taken from The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (Dormehl, 2019) This sparked a craze in the early years of the site for the crea�on of increasingly elaborate, absurd, provoca�ve and o�en inten�onally annoying reedits of television and film. Far removed from the reverence exemplified in vidding fandom, these videos essen�ally seek to vandalise the original sources, subver�ng the narra�ve with jarring audio-visual effects, overlayed samples and re-ordered dialogue – o�en reducing the source to a crude and ridiculous form. Despite the genre’s extraneous origin to the art world, it succeeds in reflec�ng many of the quali�es associated with the Dada and Neo-Dada, both in its ability to be perceived as a cri�que of mass-culture through appropria�on and the anarchic quali�es of its challenge to ownership and authen�city.
In this regard, the YouTube Poop genre is an important example of the las�ng impact of the film collage. It follows in the same lineage as 20th century examples of replicated artworks, but through a substan�ally more advanced digital form. This shows the intrinsic rela�onship between technological progress and the advancement of culture – and raises interes�ng ques�ons about what cons�tutes art or the ar�st, and whether the internet has been instrumental in levelling the ability to be crea�ve.
The effec�veness of remix methods in the context of professional contemporary art is evidenced in the work of Chris�an Marclay (1955-), who is widely recognised for his use of sampled sound and film. He draws on elements of the early avant-garde film, subver�ng the conven�ons of narra�ve by splicing together scenes from a vast range of popular films. His 24hour video projec�on The Clock (2010) illustrates the transforma�ve nature of edi�ng and the extent to which narra�ve and mood can be manipulated through this process, purely using repurposed imagery and sound. The video is composed en�rely from clips which relate to clocks or �me and is intended to be synchronised with local �me during screening. The chronology of the �ming is inten�onally juxtaposed with the hugely disparate visuals and sounds, crea�ng a powerfully hypno�c and surreal work, whilst retaining a sense of familiarity through its extensive use of pop cultural mo�f. (Comer, 2011) Here, the poten�al for crea�ng profound works of art which analyse the rise of mass-culture using the archive and the edit is demonstrated. The ques�on of defying originality or authorship is simply not relevant in the
case of Marclay’s work, as he shows that it is the transforma�ve quali�es of his crea�ve process which allow his edits to stand alone from the source material. This is an aspect of culture which has become widespread, and it is interes�ng to see the extent to which the influence of appropria�on, remix and the meme has seeped into all levels of society, especially in the context of high art.
Mechanical Reproduction and Memetics
The concept of the meme is par�cularly relevant to popular culture in the past 100 years, arguably becoming increasingly significant due to the capacity for the mechanical reproduc�on, and laterally digital reproduc�on of culture. It is necessary to consider the impact of technological advancement on the frequency and scale of cultural replica�on within the past century. Walter Benjamin commented on this long before Richard Dawkins coined the term meme in his 1935 essay The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction in which he puts forward the argument that mechanically reproduced art works lack authen�city or an ‘aura’ as he puts it, lacking an original connec�on to a specific ‘presence in time and space.’ (Benjamin, 1935) The cultural and technological direc�on of the artwork since the �me of his wri�ngs has expanded into possibili�es of replica�on which Benjamin could scarcely have an�cipated. He discusses how the aura of an artwork is based in the ‘cult of ritual’, namely the significance of an artwork in rela�on to the space which it occupies and has originally been made for, including work made for religious se�ngs. The direct experience and physicality of an artwork is what Benjamin claims provides its uniqueness, and that this is not reflected in the produc�on of the photograph and film; or indeed the digital image in all its forms - including the meme, if his logic were to be applied to a modern context. However, it is important to argue that the aura which Benjamin describes is present in any image or manipulated work however many �mes it is replicated in a different context or for a different purpose by different producers. The no�on of an artwork having its authen�city
diminished through reproduc�on due to the absence of its intended �me and space is a fair analysis to make, but it is per�nent to suggest that there is a unique evoca�on of mood and purpose in every itera�on of an image.
In rela�on to internet memes specifically, the paper Walter Benja-Memes (Hardesty et al., 2019) discusses the effect of the visceral experience and poli�cal inten�on derived from repurposed imagery:
‘They are reminiscences, tiny intensities, and tiny revolutions: depersonalised “circulations of emotion and affect” [McLean, Maalsen, and Prebble 2019, 17] that are “shared and social rather than individual” [Cvetkovich 2012, 105].’ (Hardesty et al., 2019)
It can be argued that the replicable nature of images like memes, photographs, films and adver�sements does not detract from their originality, as an image will always be viewed in a unique context as it is reproduced, and the aura in so far as meaning is concerned has the poten�al to be manipulated infinitely through the crea�ve process. This has been taken to its most extreme form yet because of the advent of digital culture.
The defini�on of the meme as coined by Richard Dawkins (1976) was originally a Darwinian analogy referring to the con�nual evolu�on of culture through the transmission of ideas between individuals. Dawkins’ theory is analogous of gene�cs, describing how learnt cultural behaviour like language is replicated and altered through genera�ons in a manner akin to inherited biological traits. In The Selfish Gene (1976), Dawkins summarises his theory of cultural mimicry:
‘Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperms or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation.’
This suggests that culture essen�ally cannibalises itself, breaking off into new itera�ons over �me, a great deal of which is so longstanding in the ‘meme pool’ that it is almost untraceable in origin, but has developed through the ‘spoken and written word, aided by great music and great art.’ (Dawkins, 1976) This part is somewhat troubling, because it most clearly enforces the Darwinian element of Dawkins’ thinking. This view fails to fully appreciate subjec�vity in a�tudes to culture, and it is perhaps more democra�c to regard all forms of culture within the meme pool as equally valid, and equal in their power to influence further evolu�on within their own strain. Dawkins’ snobbery is par�cularly evident in his a�tudes toward the phenomenon of the internet meme. It seems that his idea of the replicator applies only to selec�ve examples of culture, the ‘great music and great art’ as quoted previously. He claims that it is only valid as a ‘subset’ (Dawkins, 2013) of the true meme because it is deliberately altered through human crea�vity. Dawkins misses the point that the crucial part of the muta�on and transmission of culture is the influence of crea�vity. This is perhaps due in part to his background in the sciences, leading to a limited capacity to understand how cultural media is produced.
Crea�vity is the catalyst for the
5.1: 'Just for Hits', Marshmallow Laser Feast and Richard Dawkins, 2013
meme. However, he has demonstrated a willingness to engage with the evolu�on of his original concept, allowing himself to become the focal point of his own video and performance meme. ‘Just for Hits’ (2013) was created by a collec�ve named Marshmallow Laser Feast and featured Dawkins performing on an EWI (electronic wind instrument) to an audio-visual backdrop featuring an autotuned remix of him talking about memes. His par�cipa�on in this artwork at the Cannes Film Fes�val demonstrates a certain degree of hypocrisy concerning his statements on the ‘hijacking’ of his original concept of the meme. Dawkins precedes the video and performance with a speech on his theory, discussing the ‘functional direction’ of design and atemp�ng to directly apply his genealogical ideas to human culture as set out in The Selfish Gene (1976), comparing the func�onal success of designs like the aeroplane to the direct imita�on of the bird in nature. It is a fallacy to suggest that examples of human crea�vity must serve a clear purpose like those alluded to by Dawkins. There is an undeniable precedent for cultural media to survive and evolve through genera�ons, even if it exists for its own sake. Dawkins does however appear to concede that he may be wrong about crea�vity in rela�on to the meme, sugges�ng that crea�vity could be deemed ‘a mutation in the brain.’ (Dawkins, 2013) Culture does not evolve through a linear or precise form of replica�on, and in fact, neither do human genes.
The meme as it is currently understood in the context of digital culture became a focus of academic research in the 1990s, referred to as memetics. (Shifman, 2014, 10) The idea of the strength and spread of a media event being analogous to a virus emerged at this �me, as summarised in Mar�n H. Levinson’s review of Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture by Douglas Rushkoff:
‘They spread rapidly if they provoke our interest, and their success depends on the strengths and weaknesses of the host organism – popular culture.’ (Levinson, 1997, 110)
The internet meme is an aspect of culture which has become insidious in nature, vital to the spread of sa�re and absurdity in contemporary society. It has caused disrup�on to poli�cal structures on a vast scale. It has become a tool which has influenced the spread of informa�on, o�en with ques�onable accuracy, and has even demonstrated its power as a medium to affect the outcome of elec�ons; but it is fundamentally a crea�ve medium, and one which dominates contemporary pop culture due its accessible and relatable nature. In most cases, it takes the form of entertainment, but the power of the meme is most heavily evidenced in its ability to affect public discourse. Just as the posters of John Hear�ield served as spreadable poli�cal agitators, and the cultural iconography of Warhol defined the aesthe�cs of an era, so too do memes represent the polarisa�on and misinforma�on inherent in modern life.
The intent of the poli�cal meme is not exclusively u�lised for the benefit of le�-wing poli�cal subversion in the manner of the Dada movement. The post-2016 world of western poli�cs has been consumed by memorable right-wing slogans like ‘Make America Great Again’, simplis�c and memorable phrasing which is repe��ve and easily merchandised. Populists have demonstrated their ap�tude for meme�cs, perhaps more than any individual or movement since the prominence of Pop Art. What can be considered the ‘proto meme’ as established by the Dadaists and successive movements arguably set a precedent for future forms of populist poli�cal imagery and phrasing, made even more easy to produce, distribute and replicate due
to the advent of the internet. The rela�ve material ease of crea�ng a digital meme, along with the scope for reaching audiences right across the world has demonstrated its efficacy as a poli�cal weapon.
The appropria�on of the Pepe the Frog cartoon, which originated as a benevolent comic book character by Mat Furie, and its rise to fame as a symbol of the altright is a par�cularly powerful example of how images can be appropriated through the manipula�on of context. The use of the cartoon in a 2015 post on 4chan sparked a surge in associated rightwing memes, depic�ng Pepe as Donald Trump standing before the US border fence, beyond which are two Mexican racial stereotypes shown trying to push their way through. Soon a�er, this led to an explosion in the use of the meme by reac�onaries, prompted by Donald Trump’s own tweet of a meme which similarly depicted Pepe in his own likeness, standing at a lectern adorned with the Presiden�al Seal. This has since sparked various and largely unsuccessful atempts at reappropria�ng the character back from the alt-right, led by Furie in conjunc�on with the An�-Defama�on League, to reverse the connota�ons back to Pepe’s roots as a posi�ve, inclusive symbol. (Know Your Meme, 2023) The poli�cal fallout in rela�on to Pepe’s appropria�on demonstrates the power of the meme as a manipulable symbol which can be drama�cally altered in the eyes of popular culture with very litle effort. This does of course highlight the poten�al dangers of memes as tools of propaganda and catalysts for extremism, but equally demonstrates their poten�al to be appropriated in the spread of messages for good causes.
5.2: Donald Trump's 2015 Pepe Meme Tweet
It is evident that the internet meme in its poli�cal context is not bound by any selec�ve ideology as a form of visual culture and finds its home in the propaganda of populist movements from across the poli�cal spectrum – the an�-establishment on both le� and right. This demonstrates the memes effec�veness through its reproduceable, manipulable quali�es. It is a medium which can spread and mutate rapidly, transformed by minor changes in intertextuality, and is likely to remain as one of the most significant forms of communica�on and agita�on for the foreseeable future.
CONCLUSION
The con�nuous development of technological methods of appropria�on and replica�on in the field of human crea�vity has made the most significant contribu�on to popular culture over the past 100 years. Progress in the field of art prac�ce has been defined by these advancements, and the societal percep�on of culture is unrecognisably different from the period preceding the advent of mass culture, mechanical and digital reproduc�on. The narrowing of the distance between art and life will con�nue to be the most significant aspect of culture going into the future, with unrealised poten�al for new visual media wai�ng to be seen. It is more than reasonable to speculate that visual culture will see more changes in an increasingly digi�sed and automated society
The cultural revolu�on brought about by the Dadas and sustained by subsequent Neo-Dada movements has characterised the culture of the digital age. The replicable, shareable image con�nues to define popular culture, and its vitality is intertwined with technological advancement. The contribu�on of remix and appropria�on con�nues to have a significant role to play in contemporary art prac�ce, made even more achievable by the vast catalogue of digital content, which is infinitely easier to manipulate – far removed from the days of hand cut collages and spliced film reels. The importance of these making methods, along with their conceptual value will con�nue to be vital to my own work as an ar�st. It is my inten�on to evolve my work through appropria�on and maintain a theore�cal dialogue which is supported by this research.
Richard Dawkins concep�on of the meme has fi�ngly developed into forms which go far beyond his wri�ng; providing a founda�on for analysing contemporary culture and can be applied to char�ng its progress from the early 20th century to the present day. This is the age of the meme, and its successive muta�ons will steer the course of popular culture, poli�cs and the visual arts for the next century to come.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Barnouw, E. (1993) Documentary: A History of the Non-fiction Film. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Benjamin, W. (1935) ‘The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduc�on’. Available at: htps://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/benjamin.pdf (Accessed: 7 December 2023).
Boccioni, U. (1911) States of Mind I: The Farewells [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: htps://www.moma.org/collec�on/works/78648.
Boccioni, U. (1911) States of Mind II: Those Who Go [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: htps://www.moma.org/collec�on/works/78653.
Boccioni, U. (1911) States of Mind III: Those Who Stay [Oil on Canvas]. Available at: htps://www.moma.org/collec�on/works/78660
Burgess, J. and Green, J. (2009) YouTube: Online Video and Participatory Culture. Malden, US: Polity Press. Available at: htps://ayomenulisfisip.files.wordpress.com/2019/02/youtubeonline-video-and-par�cipatory-culture.pdf (Accessed: 10 January 2024).
Comer, S. (2011) ‘The Clock ‘, Christian Marclay, 2010, Tate. Available at: htps://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/marclay-the-clock-t14038 (Accessed: 9 January 2024).
Coppa, F. (2022) Vidding: A History. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Available at: htps://doi.org/10.3998/mpub.10069132.
Dalí, S. (1938) Lobster Telephone [Steel, plaster, rubber, resin and paper]. Available at:
htps://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/dali-lobster-telephone-t03257 (Accessed: 23 December 2023).
Dawkins, R. (2016) The Selfish Gene. 40th anniversary edit. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. Available at:
htps://web.s.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYm�XzEyNDM5NjFfX0FO0?sid
=81d1e44a-c7d9-4732-a7eb-d40f98ae0281@redis&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1 (Accessed: 8 December 2023).
Dormehl, L. (2019) YouTube Poop is punk rock for the internet age, and you probably don’t get it, Digital Trends. Available at: htps://www.digitaltrends.com/cool-tech/youtube-poopworthy-respect/ (Accessed: 8 January 2024).
Duchamp, M. (1917) Fountain [Porcelain]. Available at: htps://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/duchamp-fountain-t07573 (Accessed: 23 December 2023).
Duchamp, M. (1964) L.H.O.O.Q or La Jocund [Coloured reproduc�on, heightened with pencil and white gouache]. Available at: htps://www.nortonsimon.org/art/
Dzenita (2021) Vidding: The Art of Edits, YouTube. Available at: htps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=htknf62yDGo (Accessed: 3 January 2024).
Frye, B.L. (2022) ‘Rose Hobart – Senses of Cinema’, 31 January. Available at: htps://www.sensesofcinema.com/2001/cteq/hobart/ (Accessed: 9 January 2024).
Greenberg, C. (1939) ‘Avant-Garde and Kitsch’. Available at: htps://resources.finalsite.net/images/v1606923282/slcschoolsorg/wumlyaskvhhzawsvbbzc/ Avant-GardeandKitsch.pdf.
Hardesty, R., Linz, J. and Secor, A.J. (2019) ‘Walter Benja-Memes’, GeoHumanities, 5(2), pp. 496–513. Available at: htps://doi.org/10.1080/2373566X.2019.1624188.
Hear�ield, J. (1928) The Hand Has Five Fingers (5 Finger hat die Hand) (Poster for the German Communist Party) [Lithograph]. Available at: htps://www.moma.org/collec�on/works/217687.
Hear�ield, J. (1932) Adolf the Superman: Swallows Gold and Talks Tin [Rotogravure].
Available at: htps://www.johnhear�ield.com/John-Hear�ield-Exhibi�on/john-hear�ieldart/famous-an�-fascist-art/hear�ield-posters-aiz/adolf-the-superman-hitler-portrait.
Hear�ield, J. (1932) Millions Stand Behind Me! Small Man Asks for Big Presents [Rotogravure]. Available at: htps://www.metmuseum.org/art/collec�on/search/265672.
Hear�ield, J.J. (no date) ‘Rare Hear�ield Photos of Dada Poli�cal Ar�st Hear�ield’s Work’, John Heartfield Exhibition. Available at: htps://www.johnhear�ield.com/John-Hear�ield-
Exhibi�on/helmut-herzfeld-john-hear�ield-life/poli�cs-dada-photos/exhibi�on-hear�ieldphotos (Accessed: 9 January 2024).
Hoch der Lambeth Walk (AKA Hoch der Lambeth Valk) Sound Version (1941) (1941). Bri�sh Pathé. Available at: htps://www.bri�shpathe.com/asset/67082/ (Accessed: 9 January 2024).
Höch, H. (1919) Cut with the Dada Kitchen Knife through the Last Weimar Beer-Belly Cultural Epoch in Germany [Collage]. Available at: htps://www.artsy.net/artwork/hannah-hoch-cutwith-the-dada-kitchen-knife-through-the-last-weimar-beer-belly-cultural-epoch-in-germany.
Hugnet, G. and Scolari, M. (1936) ‘Dada’, The Bulletin of the Museum of Modern Art, 4(2/3), pp. 3–18. Available at: htps://doi.org/10.2307/4057867
Huyssen, A. (1986) After the Great Divide: Modernism, Mass Culture, Postmodernism Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. Available at: htps://monoskop.org/images/d/df/HuyssenAndreasA�ertheGreatDivideModernism MassCulture%2CPostmodernismTheoriesofRepresenta�onandDifference.pdf.
Ialongo, E. (2015) Filippo Tommaso Marinetti: The Artist and His Politics. Lanham, Maryland: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press (The Fairleigh Dickinson University Press Series in Italian Studies). Available at: htps://libezproxy.dundee.ac.uk/login?url=htps://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=t
rue&db=nlebk&AN=963782&authtype=shib&site=ehost-live&scope=site (Accessed: 9 November 2023).
Jones, J. (2015) Three Essential Dadaist Films: Ground-breaking Works by Hans Richter, Man Ray & Marcel Duchamp | Open Culture, Open Culture. Available at: htps://www.openculture.com/2015/01/three-essen�al-dadaist-films-groundbreakingworks-by-hans-richter-man-ray-marcel-duchamp.html (Accessed: 9 November 2023).
Just for Hits Richard Dawkins (2014). Available at: htps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5DOiZ8Y3bs (Accessed: 10 December 2023).
Levine, S. (1991) Fountain (Madonna) [Cast bronze]. Available at: htps://greyartgallery.nyu.edu/2011/11/sherrie-levines-mayhem-at-the-whitney/ (Accessed: 9 January 2024).
Levinson, M.H. (1997) ‘Review of Media Virus! Hidden Agendas in Popular Culture’, ETC: A Review of General Semantics, 54(1), pp. 109–111.
Lyubchenko, I. (2022) ‘NFTs and Digital Art: 21st Century Avant-Garde Impulse?’, M/C
Journal, 25(2). Available at: htps://doi.org/10.5204/mcj.2891. Marclay, C. (2010) The Clock [Video, projec�on, colour and sound (stereo)]. Available at: htps://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/marclay-the-clock-t14038
Marine�, F.T. (1909) ‘The Futurist Manifesto’. Gazzeta dell’Emilia, Le Figaro, Poesia, Prometeo. Available at: htps://www.societyforasianart.org/sites/default/files/manifestofuturista.pdf.
McKever, R. (2016) Umberto Boccioni (1882–1916) | Essay | The Metropolitan Museum of Art | Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History, The Met’s Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Available at: htps://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/umbo/hdumbo.htm (Accessed: 3 January 2024).
Nast, C. (2013) ‘Richard Dawkins on the internet’s hijacking of the word “meme”’, Wired UK.
Available at: htps://www.wired.co.uk/ar�cle/richard-dawkins-memes (Accessed: 10 December 2023).
Pollack, M. (2011) Will the Real Sherrie Levine Please Stand Up? ‘Mayhem’ at the Whitney, Observer. Available at: htps://observer.com/2011/11/will-the-real-sherrie-levine-pleasestand-up-mayhem-at-the-whitney/ (Accessed: 8 January 2024).
Return to Reason (1923). Available at: htps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ebz2AARJUwI (Accessed: 8 January 2024).
Richter, H. (1964) Dada: Art and Anti-Art. 1965 and 1997 edn. London: Thames and Hudson Ltd. Available at: htps://monoskop.org/images/4/41/RichterHansDadaArtandAn�Art1997.pdf (Accessed: 7 January 2024).
Rose Hobart (1936). Available at: htps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQxtZlQlTDA (Accessed: 9 November 2023).
Schaefer, J.O. (1997) ‘Review of Hannah Höch, 1889-1978: Collages; Cut with the Kitchen
Knife: Weimar Photomontages of Hannah Höch; Three Berlin Ar�sts of the Weimar Era: Hannah Höch, Käthe Kollwitz, Jeanne Mammen; The Photomontages of Hannah Höch, Maria
Makela’, Woman’s Art Journal, 18(2), pp. 35–39. Available at: htps://doi.org/10.2307/1358551.
Selz, P. (1963) ‘John Hear�ield’s “Photomontages”’, The Massachusetts Review, 4(2), pp. 309–336.
Shifman, L. (2014) Memes in Digital Culture. Cambridge, Massachusets: The MIT Press (The MIT Press essen�al knowledge series). Available at:
htps://web.p.ebscohost.com/ehost/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYm�XzY0OTE3MV9fQU41?sid
=3e6b2122-fa17-42ec-86c5-f942bad200a7@redis&vid=0&format=EB&rid=1 (Accessed: 10 January 2024).
Shoemate, B. (2020) What does it mean — Good artists copy, Great artists steal, Medium.
Available at: htps://medium.com/ben-shoemate/what-does-it-mean-good-ar�sts-copygreat-ar�sts-steal-ee8fd85317a0 (Accessed: 3 January 2024).
System of a Down (1998) System of a Down. Los Angeles: American, Columbia.
Tanguy, Y. et al. (1926) Cadavre Exquis, Nude. [Composite drawing of ink, pencil, and coloured pencil on paper.]. Available at: htps://www.moma.org/collec�on/works/35701 (Accessed: 22 December 2023).
The Holy Bible, Proverbs 26:11: ‘Honour is Not Fitting for a Fool’. New King James Version (1982). Available at: htps://biblehub.com/nkjv/proverbs/26.htm (Accessed: 15 December 2023).
‘The Tomorrow People’ (1973). [Television programme]. United Kingdom. Triumph des Willens (1935). Leni Riefenstahl-Produk�on, Reichspropagandaleitung der NSDAP.
Tzara, T. (1918) ‘Dada Manifesto’. Available at: htps://wri�ng.upenn.edu/library/TzaraDada-Manifesto1918.pdf (Accessed: 9 November 2023).
Warhol, A. (1962) Green Coca-Cola Bottles [Acrylic, screen-print, and graphite pencil on canvas]. Available at: htps://whitney.org/collec�on/works/3253 (Accessed: 8 January 2024).
Z. (2015) Pepe the Frog, Know Your Meme. Available at: htps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pepe-the-frog (Accessed: 5 January 2024).