METAHAVEN — CAN JOKES BRING DOWN GOVERNMENTS?

Image: book cover

Shoutout to Metahaven and the Strelka Institute for putting out this heady little number. Great title. The book addresses the titular question from the perspective of graphic designers who are interested in political theory and memes. Since I don’t have much background in design theory, part of the fun here is getting turned on to Metahaven’s sources, always thoughtfully discussed (love reading something where I come away with a reading list). It’s plain weird that there aren’t any illustrations in this book; to publish several paragraphs describing a cat meme in detail seems to me a deliberately provocative act. Read, May 2020.