Memetics
Generative audiovisual animation, various sizes
2004 – current
”Analogous to a gene, the meme was conceived as a “unit of culture” (an idea, belief, pattern of behavior, etc.) which is “hosted” in the minds of one or more individuals, and which can reproduce itself in the sense of jumping from the mind of one person to the mind of another. Thus what would otherwise be regarded as one individual influencing another to adopt a belief is seen as an idea-replicator reproducing itself in a new host.”
https://everything.explained.today/Memetics/
I’m fascinated by the concept of memes and the distribution of ‘units of culture’, which vary from religious beliefs to “peanut butter should be stored inside the refrigerator”. Societies rely on these cultural ideas. They create bonds as well as enemies.
With this project I am trying to create an experimental digital biotope, in which we follow the spread of a set number of ideas, between a set number of individuals or cells. Their idea is visualized by the cell’s color; their conviction by the size of their core. When two cells meet, they exchange ideas and, by the strength of their convictions, one cell could switch to the other one’s idea.
Gradually we see ideas gain traction or disappear, only to reappear when an individual cell has been alone for long enough to start questioning their own beliefs.
Memetics has been an ongoing project since 2004. It’s first version was developed in Macromedia Flash. The current version runs in P5.js in most browsers.