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Against

Vol. 5 (2024): In Flux: Experiences of Social and Political Betweenness

Selected Memes from @Nihilistpotata

DOI
https://doi.org/10.25071/2563-3694.140
Submitted
January 9, 2024
Published
2024-09-03

Abstract

The following memes have been selected from my Instagram account @nihilistpotata. In this
account, I combine the image of a nihilist potato with the artistic concept of Dadaism to challenge
conventional tastes in art and traditional methods of visual creation. @Nihilistpotata documents my
graphic design experiments using memes. The themes of these memes delve into my general
life troubles and aspirations, as well as my more particular experiences navigating graduate school. It
aims to strike a balance between my online persona as a humorous potato and my embodied identity
as a nerdy Asian woman who is considered to be conventionally unattractive. Through the act of
meme-making, I aspire to empower not just myself but oppressed people writ large— LGBTQ2S folx,
racialized and Indigenous communities, the poor, the disabled, the bullied, those suffering from mental
illness, and many more; all who seek to resist, survive, laugh, and heal.