On memes, mimetic desire, and why it's always that deep
When filmmaker and scholar Hito Steyerl wrote her manifesto “In Defense of the Poor Image” in 2009, internet memes were only in their infancy. But in the years since, the meme has become the dominant form of the poor image — “an illicit fifth-generation bastard of an original image.” Of the poor image, Steyerl wrote: Altogether, poor images present a snapshot of the affective condition of the crowd, its neurosis, paranoia, and fear, as well as its craving for intensity, fun, and distraction. T