Memetics of Transhumanist Imagery

Using the example of an emerging transhumanist visuality, this article discusses visual communication as memes; cultural units that follow the logic of evolutionary transmission. Memes are thought to self-replicate, based on the principles of competition, inheritance, variation and mutation [Dawkins 1976]. With this model, communication would be driven by its message units rather than by the messenger; meditational means, communicative modes and the agency of the social actor would be solely determined by the selective pressures of memes. In particular, this article analyzes visual memetic communication in cyborg imagery and transhumanist art. Parallel to a transhumanist ideology, imagery of human?machine designs, enhanced embodiment and virtual disembodiment circulate through Internet and other public spaces. While a majority of these images are not directly authored by transhumanist sources, they are still encouraged by transhumanists as they aid the meme wars [Young 2006] of the movement. Taking these memes as a form of self-driven and highly assertive communication, this article discusses how transhumanist ideas are simulated, imitated and replicated. The analysis of three visual memes reveals the autonomous, interactive, reflexive and fictional properties of memetic communication. Using the example of an emerging transhumanist visuality, this article discusses visual communication as memes; cultural units that follow the logic of evolutionary transmission. Memes are thought to self-replicate, based on the principles of competition, inheritance, variation and mutation [Dawkins 1976]. With this model, communication would be driven by its message units rather than by the messenger; meditational means, communicative modes and the agency of the social actor would be solely determined by the selective pressures of memes. In particular, this article analyzes visual memetic communication in cyborg imagery and transhumanist art. Parallel to a transhumanist ideology, imagery of human?machine designs, enhanced embodiment and virtual disembodiment circulate through Internet and other public spaces. While a majority of these images are not directly authored by transhumanist sources, they are still encouraged by transhumanists as they aid the meme wars [Young 2006] of the movement. Taking these memes as a form of self-driven and highly assertive communication, this article discusses how transhumanist ideas are simulated, imitated and replicated. The analysis of three visual memes reveals the autonomous, interactive, reflexive and fictional properties of memetic communication.