Artist's Statement

Central Question

 

It's been a whole year since we had started the quarantine from the horrible COVID-19. During this time where all students are forced to learn on Zoom, how do people connect with each other? Soon enough, we see everyone posting relatable Zoom and quarantine memes, allowing a community to be built through the power of MEMES! This really inspired me to study memes and specifically how can memes create community among the Scholars Program during this chaotic time? My project will allow people of a variety of Scholars program to connect with one another virtually through an interactive meme activity over Zoom where everyone will have a chance to make their own memes. Through this project, I will be able to see the power of memes first-hand and investigate to see how memes are able to create community during this hard time.

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Literature

 

The word “meme” was first originated by Richard Dawkins, a biologist, in 1976. He believed that cultural ideas are similar to genes and can mutate/spread rapidly (Abstract Magazine). The first humorous meme created was made 15 years after the word “meme” was coined and it was nowhere similar to modern memes today. Back then, memes were extremely simple. There were no words/captions to accompany the images. As memes continue to evolve and develop, there are now several types of memes: viral pictures with captions(most popular), videos such as “Gangnam Style”, and GIFs. Memes are known to be popular for its humor, its ability to relieve stress, and display power/meaning in big movements. At the same time, we are starting to incorporate current issues/events into our memes. This increases the risks that this form of media can become an offensive weapon (Radcliffe). This allows memes to have the power to create community or separate groups.  As memes are strong tools for healing, they can be strong weapons of offense as well (Knight).  In my project, we will mainly be focusing on how to create community within the Scholars Community. 

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Methods

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The methods I would have in my project involves hosting an interactive activity over Zoom to gather the artworks/memes that participants make while allowing them to share their memes to connect with each other better. I am also using multiple mediums of art to create my own original memes to display for the attendees of my interactive meme activity, such as music, photoshop, and drawing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Audience & Impact

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The audience I am targeting is the Scholars Program. For my first event, I aimed for the peer mentors/mentees group. Next, I presented to the Art Scholars. Lastly, I am targeting the whole Scholars community. This allows me to work my way up from a small audience to a larger one. I wanted to focus my project on the Scholars program because it is known to be one of the main programs at UMD who emphasize the importance of building community. I really want to see how memes can still allow fellow Scholars to connect during this hard time. Hopefully through this project and event, students of the Scholars community will be able to laugh together while reading through the memes despite the fact that everyone is not physically together. 

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References

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Abstract Magazine. “Are Memes Harmless Fun or an Offensive Weapon?” Medium, Abstract Magazine, 6 Dec. 2015, medium.com/abstract-magazine/are-memes-harmless-fun-or-an-offensive-weapon-10364b60d012. 

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Knight, Ivy. “How Memes and a Good Laugh Can Help People in Recovery.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Sept. 2020, www.nytimes.com/2020/09/23/style/recovery-memes.html. 

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Radcliffe, Published by Geoffrey. “Memes throughout History: Where Did It Begin? · Post Launch.” Post Launch, 5 Jan. 2018, postlaunch.co/blog/memes-throughout-history-where-did-it-begin/. 

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Acknowledgements

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I would like to thank my faculty advisor, Heather, for answering all of questions and giving me feedback through my whole project. I also want to thank Gabi, Harold, participants of my interactive meme activity, and my peers for helping me in the whole process of the project! I wouldn't have been able to do it without everyone's cooperation and assistance.