MEMES!!!

                        People need money to live. The fact that we have many ways to just spend it, is incredible. But there are also ways we spend money that are excessive. It doesn't help that the money we have to work for isn't much. Most places of business end up underpaying their staff, so having the money to live off of is a pleasing to them. Yes there is the minimum wage, which is the minimum to pay employees to live off, but even than that's not enough for people to live off. But with prices continuously going up it makes living very difficult. Especially for working college students, with college tuition increases, and lack of help from the government to support us. "In recent internet history, politicians have set themselves up for ridicule by providing the perfect conditions for their memeification. More than just humorous interventions, these memes undermine the pretensions of power and respect politicians use as a de-facto method for quieting dissent and broadcasting their often contemptuous messages."

                                  This uno meme is showing that no matter what the big companies, colleges, and the government are asked to do, they will only do it for a profit and will not care about the people they get money from. Memes show that people care about what the meme talks about even if they are used as a joke. "At their core, all memes, regardless of their politics, are a tool for expression." Regardless of their origin, format, message, or even relevance, memes have the power to stay forever and still have an influence. An example of a powerful meme is with the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iik25wqIuFo. I recommend that anyone reading this post to please click the link. This meme started in the early 2000's, around the time of the start of Youtube, but the meme comes from a video from the 80's. We still see this meme being relevant today by Youtubers and other forms of content creators. This meme has shown that memes can withstand the test of time and still have an impact. So the more memes are used, the more the overused memes will be just like that link and have an everlasting impact on society and politicians as a whole.

Meme Project

 

Mental health is known to be a condition with regards to their psychological and emotional well-being. In today’s world mental health is one of the number one thing looked over and taken as a joke. Mental health disorders are something that will not discriminate against anyone meaning anyone can have the condition. Those who do seek help get medicated treatment for disorders like bipolar and anxiety to help them. Mental health disorders can be a killer if not paid attention to raising awareness and educate yourself is the first step to help mental health disorders  

“You can express yourself with one picture of a meme better than a whole page of text,”(How Memes Are Making Protest Art More Powerful) I find this really speaks to the subject I speak about above. I believe that memes show a side of bringing out how you really feel but put it in a funny way. Memes today bring light to certain situations. The memes I picked for this project shows how people do have mental health issues but choose to make memes as a funny way of showing “I know I’m not the one going through this” it brings awareness but also makes things easier to talk about the current situation at hand.

Sexual Harrasment Claims at Peak level

 

The issue I chose for my memes is the issue of sexual Harassment claims. I chose the former governor of New York Andrew Cuomo as my reference because it is the most recent sexual harassment issue that I know of. I also chose Governor Cuomo because he had been in the media highlights when the Corvid pandemic hit. In most cases, the victims of sexual harassment start surfacing when the person being accused is in the social highlight. By this I mean, maybe the person is famous, the person is receiving a lot of media attention. I by writing this do not wish to comment on whether the sexual harassment did or did not occur. My point is when you are at your peak, there are those that may not wish to see you succeed. Gov Cuomo was very much being considered a hero because of his Corvid acts but that boat sank quickly because of the sexual harassment claims and the former Gov resigned (long story).

The artists, Wodiczko, from the reading The Interventionists, mentions that he tries to contribute to the process of transformation of the fearful silence of the invisible and unheard city residents and the of the deaf ear of those who are visible and heard. Andrew Cuomo was a public figure before and while the Pandemic was at its peak, He was given a listening ear by society, but as soon as he was in the spotlight for sexual abuse, he was left to defend himself without being given the chance to be proven guilty of the accusations and instead pressure piled on him to resign.

Meme Project

So these are my high-quality memes, two are about acceptance, race, and lgbtq+ community and one is about the Texas abortion laws. I think for Texas banning abortions, they cannot decide what the woman's needs or wants are. It is the woman's decision if she wants to keep the baby or not. Women should have the right to choose, and it is not fair that their choice is no longer accepted in Texas. Pro-choice good.

Racism is crazy to think about today. More recently George Floyd was killed by an officer, sparking in the protests with the BLM movement. And people were against that? A friend of mine actually encountered someone who as actually anti-BLM on discord saying that "the whole BLM movement doesn't make any sense, the protests and riots are scaring Caucasians and forcing them to carry weapons just in case. Why not just All Lives Matter?" Why did I tell that story? Because it still frustrates me today that people can't just accept others who are different. A little explanation for the copium meme, copium is a term used mostly by twitch which is a combination of Coping and Opium the drug. Here for the one, I did, it's me on copium saying that racism doesn't exist. My family has a couple members of the LGBTQ+ community and luckily they're accepted. 

 

Meme project

For this project I chose to do a broad theme on feminism. From policy and government issues, to everyday interactions with myself and others. The first image is a reflection on internalized male gaze, the bird lurking in the back is actually pressed against a mirror. It’s a commentary on how despite my own views on male gaze and feminism, I still hold myself to a standard of looks and behavior that fits the male gaze. The second is a broader issue on the Texas heartbeat bill, which was enacted by men we have known don’t understand human biology enough to be making laws on woman’s bodies. Roe vs. wade was the law that made abortion safe and legal for women. Bills like the Texas heartbeat bill are a direct violation of roe vs. wade. The last one is a joke on how women tend to fall under the job of educating men on women’s rights to autonomy and how we are in a patriarchal society, instead of men holding other men accountable or men trying to educate themselves. 

 

Art Activism Meme Project

    My memes are about how capitalism affects the majority. Capitalism itself profits off of the overworked and underpaid. Capitalism forces this idea that a person should always be productive and their hobbies should bring them extra income. It pushes this “hustle- culture” onto the majority and makes people who relax and have hobbies that bring them joy instead of income feel bad. Resulting in the general population being overworked. The pandemic has amplified the results of capitalism. Staff shortages due to the death tolls and the contraction rates are causing companies to over-extended the staff they have present. People on Twitter calling unemployed people collecting unemployment checks during a global pandemic that has killed millions of people,  lazy for not working a minimum wage job that will put them at greater risk of contracting the deadly virus. People are being evicted from their homes because many jobs are closed due to covid and they have no source of income. Doctors and nurses working endlessly through a pandemic to stop the spread and care for those who have contracted it. While our government starts opening the country up to “better” the economy. 

    Memes are a great tool for protesting. They spread easily and can reach crowds never thought of. With people actively liking and sharing continuously, memes can go viral within an hour. Reaching millions of people worldwide. They are short, easy to read, and often humorous. It is hard to shut down memes and they can evolve into a much deeper message. For those who don’t understand the joke, there will be people explaining the background information that contributed to the creation of the meme. Therefore, spreading information and awareness of an issue. Memes also allow the communities directly affected by issues to voice their opinions and share their stories. 

    As a college student, memes are a perfect example of how we share our emotions and experiences. Every time midterms and finals week fly around, millions of college students are liking and sharing humorous posts about our experiences. Memes are useful because it shows individuals that their experience is shared with millions of other people in the world. They create a global network and can be expressed to other cultures because everyone knows humor. Memes may be images or short clips, but a good meme can be remembered for years, which is another reason why it's a great protest tool. 

Memes are Our Generation Protest Art: 

“They spread so quickly and evolve and transform, and it’s hard to shut them down in the way other forms of communicative protest can be silenced” 

Interventionist:

 "The mechanism behind this project is a GPS triggered digital sign on top of a car that allows community members to post messages"

Police Brutality (Meme Project - Memes and their importance)

 

Police brutality is sometimes referred to as the various human rights violated by police officers. A definition that can better define police brutality is the "unwarranted or excessive and often illegal use of force against civilians by police officers". Brutal and/or illegal acts conducted by some police officers to some civilians include torture, unlawful killings, beatings, indiscriminate use of riot control against protestors, and racial abuse. Police officers often take action based off of prejudice and/or bias. This topic stands out to me and is important to me because I identify and play an active role in many heavily biased groups.

Many people, as well as police officers can be heavily biased about the African-American community, Muslim community, and females. I am one from each of those communities. I sometimes feel like I could be a target or a future victim of police brutality. I not only sometimes fear for myself, but am especially  fearful for my African-American Muslim brothers, father, cousins, and nephews. From the article "What the data say about police brutality and racial bias-and which reforms might work", an estimate is mentions and it states that Black men are 2.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by police during their lifetime. The same article states another study that was conducted that concludes that Black people who were fatally shot by police seemed to be twice as likely as white people to be unarmed. 

What I know is that I do not want to change my race, my religious practice, and my gender because each are a part of my identity and makes me proud. What I would want to change are all of the past, present, and most-likely future acts of brutality from police officers. It is mostly unnecessary and always heartbreaking to those effected by it.  

       

Meme Project- Bullying

 

The social issue I chose was bullying. Growing up, I never quite understood the concept of bullying, even when it happened to me. I just thought, "oh maybe they were joking" or "oh maybe they'll stop picking on me and move on to someone else." It was not until I was maybe 15 that I began to realize that no matter how small the situation felt, bullying hurts. It is not easy to always stand up to someone because you may not want to make a big deal about it or you are scared of the person bullying you, but over time I learned that I am me and that I will always stick up for myself and always stick up for others. My memes can be seen as political art because they can strike up conversations and maybe even encourage others. 

In "The Interventionists" the nomad chapter, it states that, "The clothes were designed as a response to the Gulf War and combines fashion with portable architecture. She designed Refuge Wear to highlight and assist those in need of refuge." Making memes, even if they are not funny can have the power to change people or provide help because it can let someone else know they are not the only one. Also stated in the chapter, " Instead, the project is meant to bring the issue of homelessness to public attention." When doing this meme project, we are able to see other social-political issues that we were not aware of from our peers and be inspired as well. 

 

Art Activist and Self Introduction

 

My name is Christopher Leonardo Conley. I'm a Media Arts major here at New Jersey City University. My goal was to get my bachelor's but I've recently made the decision to just get my associates and transfer into PTA (Physical Therapist Assistant) program and get my PTA certification by 2024. I was born in Newark NJ, ever since I can remember my father was never around and my mother was unfit to take care of me and my siblings so we were put into foster care. I have 3 sister's and 1 brother all of which are not full-blood related to me and I'm the youngest out of all of them. One day my mother's sister (my aunt) got all of us out of the system and we lived with her along with my other aunt in Sayreville NJ, as timed moved forward my siblings got older and moved out so now it's just me.

This is me doing a flip in the street in Flushing, Queens next to some graffiti which represents my art activist "Banksy"

The Art Activist I chose is someone who is Anonymous but goes by “Banksy” a street artist from England who mainly does political pieces. I enjoy the fact that Banksy’s art can be seen by anyone, Banksy doesn’t sell any art and displays them at random in any location. Banksy’s pieces typically are designed around anti-fascism, anti-consumerism, and human greed.

 

Crystal Serrano- "GlObAl WaRmInG iSnT rEaL…"

We all like a good meme. and like we spoke about in class once memes are sort of a language we speak. it can bring us together or tear us apart at times. but nonetheless we get a good laugh at it no matter what it says... that is if you aren't too sensitive. the memes provided are related to climate change because as i hope we all know by now its changing rapidly. every day more and more animals are loosing there homes and will eventually never come back at the rate were going. of course we laugh at the memes but the messages they're trying to put forth are serious ones.

We do not know what's hiding in these ice caps...glaciers.. etc therefore we should try to contain them as they are in the likelihood of something prehistoric coming back into the world. its not everyday we see polar bears and we will once miss them due to the carelessness of some people. weather or not haha see what i did there... you agree or not why wouldn't you do anything about the one planet we live on. take care of her.

Luis' Meme Project

Luis' Meme Project

     I found myself having fun, yet thinking hard at the same time as I made these memes. We mentioned it last class, but the I Can Haz Cheezburger meme was something I took in account for my last meme, centered on police reform. The events of the January 6th riots, and overall the history of modern military issues inspired me in each meme as well, with the project giving me a chance to see first hand how impactful a meme could be as protest art. I was able to see this when I saw political cartoons comparing the treatment of the famous podium guy from the Capitol, compared to how Black Lives Matter protesters were treated. 

    Media Professor Benjamin Burroughs of the University of Nevada has said that “The ability for the meme to empower and push back can be really powerful. They’re definitely sites of resistance against perceptions of abuse of power. They spread so quickly and evolve and transform, and it’s hard to shut them down in the way other forms of communicative protest can be silenced.” If I were to post any of the three memes I made onto a site like Twitter, for better or for worse, they'd somehow spread to either side of the argument. Art has a way of travelling, and even if memes are differently created compared to paintings or videos, they still find themselves in the same realm. There is a certain sarcasm and dryness that allows viewers to have some form of resistance towards what the meme is about.

    When referring to the artworks of William Pope L., the Interventionists book says "His art installations use unconventional materials such as peanut butter, mayonnaise, and Pop arts to provoke a closer examination of the “stuff” of everyday life and to raise questions about art as a commodity and community. " I consider the image vectors of different cartoon characters, animals, and people, to be the peanut butter and mayo of memes -- An unconventional force to relate political events to things we see in everyday life, with various facial expressions or implications that change how we view them for a short time. For example, the giant swordsman, Batman's helmet, and Cheezburger cat which easily mean different things when looked at from their origins.

meme project

Academic cheating is one of the most critical political issues around modern society especially with the newer and younger generations. Cheating involves acts of dishonesty, plagiarism, bribery, misrepresentation, conspiracy, fabrication, collusion, duplicate submission, academic misconduct, and disruptive behavior. Students and people tend to cheat in order to get good grades due to desperation or little hope. It's really sad to think that our generation depends and resorts to cheating in order to pass and "succeed"  academically and in life. 

The reason that many schools and places have academic integrity regulations in place and have sites to track any duplications or plagiarism is due to the consistency of cheating throughout the World and the United States. The reason I chose academic cheating was because I've cheated before in the past and never got caught but I stopped doing because when the time comes for important exams, that's when you're tested on actual knowledge, limiting time and options for cheating at all. I go against cheating and dishonest acts because it's just wrong and in the long run won't help you and would put you in a disadvantage. Personally it made me feel bad in the inside and feel pretty crappy deep down obviously resulting in a possible consequence for your actions, failure or karma. 

A quote that stood out to me from "Memes are our Generation's Protest Art" was "You can express yourself with one picture of a meme better than a whole page of text." This quote was quite genius in my opinion because images portray a better and more clear message than actual bland words. Another quote that was interesting would be "As a byproduct of social media, memes and protest art act as a way to gauge a country's political temperature", because it attracts people's attentions more than words or boring news, it's alluring to the human eye and just grabs more attention than anything else, either causing debate or just seeking attention and awareness of an issue.

Intervention Project- Meme's as Protest Art

 Meme's:

    I chose to write my meme’s about LGBTIA+ due to being a member of the community. I feel like it is easier to talk about something that I’m very passionate about and something that is an issue to this day. There are still very close-minded people about same sex relationships and think it's a sin. More and more people get hate based off their sexuality and don't get support from their friends and family like they anticipated. Not everyone is lucky enough to get support, so I find it important that the ones who did receive support to help others and let them know it’s okay.

These memes can be counted as political art because the fight for same sex marriage took a while to happen until it eventually did on June 26, 2015. In the Vice article, Memes Are Our Generation’s Protest Art by Sage Lazzaro, it states, “They spread so quickly and evolve and transform, and it’s hard to shut them down in the way other forms of communicative protest can be silenced.” I loved this quote because I completely agree how fast social media spreads stuff whether its good or bad and gets the word out there faster than if it was something in person. Another quote from the article, How Memes Are Making Protest Art More Powerful by Lizzie Fison, states, “Like with memes, Farage’s image (or, in this case, speech) was co-opted and an entirely new meaning was ascribed through the addition of Dance’s text. It clearly struck a chord, and by the next day the video of the parliamentary session had gone viral, being shared thousands of times on social media.” When it comes to meme’s, it can make or break a person or a situation. Meme’s are peoples escape in the world and how they deal with their problems with some dark humor.

Meme Project

 As someone who spends three days out of my week taking classes as a full-time student, and the other four days of the week working a mediocre job to compensate for the first half, the capitalistic mindset of the country tends to make me exhausted. America preaches hard work yielding luxury to anyone, yet the cost of living raising every year makes that hard to believe.  

In the article Memes Are Our Generation’s Protest Art, Alan Schaaf, the CEO of image-hosting site Imgur, told VICE, “You can express yourself with one picture of a meme better than a whole page of text.” A picture says a thousand words, this may feel especially true in today’s world, where you’re much more likely to come across important political news from a meme on your trending page than the seven-o-clock news. Memes have power, “More than just humorous interventions, these memes undermine the pretensions of power and respect politicians use as a de-facto method for quieting dissent and broadcasting their often contemptuous messages,” from How Memes Are Making Protest Art More Powerful. Our generation has the unique experience where most of our political beliefs were brought to us by the internet. The internet is an incredibly powerful tool to spread messages due to the sheer ease it takes for something to get viral and be seen by others. In Interventionists Chapter One, Micheal Rokowitz had a project titled paraSITE where he made tents for the homeless that connect to vents outside buildings to inflate. This project used public attention to aid in getting his message across, stating that “The visibly parasitic relationship of these devices to the buildings, appropriating a readily available situation with readily available materials, elicited immediate speculation as to the future of the city.” With the internet connecting millions of people worldwide daily, it’s much easier to showcase parasitic relationships of politics. 

A topic I’m passionate about is capitalism, and the discussion of universal basic income. Using images in my camera roll, I’ve created three memes expressing dissatisfaction with the current capitalistic system we have in place.

Intervention Project - Meme

 

    Womens rights has been a hot topic for years and continues to be a debate (for some reason) after all these years. Problems such as equal pay and abortion is continuously discussed about within our government but not much improvement has been made. It’s been a long time coming and women still have to fight with closed minded people in order to be viewed as human beings who are equal to men. As a woman it’s devastating to see how women are often treated on a day to day basis. Whether it be just going for a walk and dealing with catcallers or fearing for ones own safety, to going to a hard-working job where you’re paid less than your coworker just because he’s a man.

 The fight for womens rights has been going on for far too long, with leaders not taking it very seriously but only showing support when there’s a camera in their face. I chose this topic because it’s something that I’m extremely passionate about. Growing up in a house with a strong single mother who’s grown so much from where she began, to my older sisters who taught me what she couldn’t, it’s important that women just as strong as them get the treatment they deserve.  

One quote that I liked from the reading was, “As a byproduct of social media, memes and protest art act as a way to gauge a country’s political temperature”. With governments trying to control what we see and how things can be perceived through social media, it can be now up to the people to use humor in order to get important messages across. Something for people of all ages to understand. Another quote that I liked was from the second reading, “Memes Are Our Generation’s Protest Art”.  The quote states, “They reflect what’s happening in society, and help justify feelings of rage and fear while helping us feel less alone.” People love memes that are relatable to them and they can understand. We can look at memes and feel like our points of view are valid. 

Project 1- Meme

 

Intervention Project 1 - Memes

 

    So I decided to do my project on Global Warming. It is one of the biggest problems in the world at the current moment. Every day factories are pumping chemicals into the waters, gasses into the air, and testing their products on animals. Furthermore, we, as consumers, make it worse by purchasing the products and encouraging them to make more. 

"As a byproduct of social media, memes and protest art act as a way to gauge a country’s political temperature." This quote is from the article How Memes Are Making Protest Art More Powerful. Governments have been in control of the country for as long as it was around, but it is the people's right to spark conflict when there is an issue that needs to be addressed. The government turns a blind eye to these issues but people will not, speak out, and create this conflict. They are willing to light the government's butt on fire to get their attention.

Intervention Project - Meme as a Project

Brian Vargas 

Meme 1

Meme 2

Meme 3

What I chose for the my project was based on climate change. I think climate change is a very important topic that everyone should read on. Saving our planet from ourselves is a very important thing for the world. We keep polluting our world and in turn it is harming our planet. We keeping using harmful gases that in turn will lower our oxygen levels all across the the globe. These memes can be used to create awareness of the global climate change situation that is happening. 

“You can express yourself with one picture of a meme better than a whole page of text,”(How Memes Are Making Protest Art More Powerful) This one quote I chose because people are able to understand pictures better than a whole page. It is easy for people to interpret because they can connect the text and pictures to real life. Another quote from The Interventionists that I found said " This 25 minute auditory voyage introduces visitors to a unique exploration of the landscape as well as providing a sonic environment commenting (abstractly) on the changing environment." In the quote it said that the trip provided commentary on the changing environment. This provided people with some knowledge of how during the trip their environment was changing.  

ARTIST + SELF Introduction Post on the blog

My name is Kayla Medina. I am a college student at New Jersey City University. My goal is to earn my bachelor’s degree in biology to then enter a nursing program to further my education into becoming a nurse. I grew up in a single-parent household with six siblings. Three brothers and three sisters, me being the youngest girl. I was born in the Bronx and moved to Plainfield, New Jersey at the age of thirteen. I will be a first-generation student to go to college. My family is my motivation and I hope to make my mother extremely proud.

 As I get older, I realize how cruel this society can be. Everyone either needs to fit in or be judged. 

I chose “The Guerilla Girls.” I thought they showed a great representation of activism through their works of art. The Guerilla Girls came out in 1985 in New York City. Their focus was to create artwork that fought against sexism and racism. In the society we live in, women and those of a different race than white such as African Americans, Asians, or Hispanics receive less opportunities and are judged for something that is natural to them. Through their images, they are able to point out how women are expected to be and act in society but then don't get treated fairly for not following what's expected. They are able to represent the unequal treatment many get who are not white. It is unfortunate that so many of us are treated unfairly for not following the norm even when it's wrong. It's also unfair that we live in a society that thinks the color of your skin and your gender proves your value and what you're capable of.