Meme Wars

This workshop was led by Pedro Inoue, Creative Director of the Adbusters Media Foundation, a participating artist in the 10th Seoul Mediacity Biennale Eu Zên.

What does it mean to live in this world today? What is the tone and mood that governs our lives? What exactly is it that makes us work, buy, sleep, and eventually die? And who coordinates and controls these forces?

This workshop provides a space for brainstorming ways to challenge the dominant capitalist narratives that control the flow of information. Can we tax advertising? Can we suppress corporations? Can we put an end to secrets and clandestine activities? It is only a matter of time before this corrupt system finally crumbles. Which side will you be on?

Founded in Canada in 1989 by Kalle Lasn and Bill Schmalz, Adbusters is an international collective of activist writers, artists, designers, musicians, philosophers, poets and punks trying to catalyze a transformation of the current world order. They publish a bimonthly magazine called Adbusters, run a website at adbusters.org and an activist community at abillionpeople.org.

Adbusters has launched several notorious international campaigns, including “Buy Nothing Day,” “TV Turn-off Week,” and “Occupy Wall Street.” Adbusters magazine is renowned for its use of “culture jamming,” a strategy that subverts and parodies corporate advertising and brand imagery. Through these activities, Adbusters aims to dismantle dominant commercial narratives and create a platform for addressing urgent contemporary issues such as climate change, consumerism, and corporate and financial hegemony.