Whether you are a millennial or Gen Z, or if you have ever been on the internet at all, memes have defined online culture. Since its early days of “Nyan Cat” to the current landscape of brainrot, memes have evolved alongside the internet, becoming a cultural phenomenon in their own right. From funny images to powerful content, memes are here to stay. Media scholar and digital culture researcher Dr. Lucie Chateau discusses the origins and evolution of memes, from Web 1.0 to the current moment of GenAI, slop and brainrot.
For many people, memes have become synonymous with online culture. They can be found on all kinds of online forums and social media accounts with large followings, as well as in group chats of families, friends and colleagues. As meme culture has become increasingly embedded in our lives, the concept of the meme has evolved, and memes have graduated from being digital frivolities to having serious political power. While memes such as "doge" enjoyed a brief political manifestation through Elon Musk's infamous Department of Government Efficiency, Memecoins in cryptocurrency are proving to have more staying power through their promise to radically democratize the financial system. As memes infiltrate every aspect of our lives, including our political and financial institutions, we must acknowledge their societal impact and ask ourselves: how did we get here, and what gives memes their wide appeal? In this talk, Dr. Lucie Chateau traces the origins and evolution of memes, from Web 1.0 to the current moment of slop and brainrot and explains how their aesthetics play a hugely important role in their visual dominance of the digital zeitgeist.
About the speaker
Dr. Lucie Chateau is a media scholar and digital culture researcher. She currently works as Assistant Professor of Screen Media at Utrecht University and leads the Diversifying Creative AI cluster at the Inclusive AI Lab. Dr. Chateau is interested in the evolution of aesthetics in digital culture, with a focus on the circulation of images in meme culture and the subversive potential of memes as aesthetic forms that negotiate new forms of representation under digital capitalism. Her work incorporates interdisciplinary approaches from a wide range of fields, weaving together philosophical traditions, cultural studies heritage, media studies and contemporary theories on digital capitalism and the digital economy.
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