semantic drift
herbert marshall mcluhan (1911 - 1980), was a canadian philosopher, who coined the term, the medium is the massage, and the term, global village. in his writings, the gutenburg galaxy (1962) and later his famous, "medium is the massage" (1967), mcluhan discusses the gravitational effect on cognition of letters, text and print, along with technology driving social organization and social interaction.
i find memes really interesting as they are quick viral glimpses at the collective consciousness of society. often referencing media and the culture itself, they can be described as single panel graphics, pairing text to image in order to convey irony or commentary. the image then becomes recycled over and over again, much like a mutation over the world wide web, with different commentary or mutation until the virus dies.
meme (/miːm/ MEEM)
idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture —often with the aim of conveying a particular phenomenon, theme, or meaning represented
by the meme. ~ wiki
looking through my memes folder, meaning is changing quickly to both words and images, due to a rapid shift in context. if you really think about it, a virus is changing a virus, and covid 19 is creating semantic change on the fly!
oz factor | no. 6 #marshallmcluhan #message #meaning
oz factor is an ongoing blog and photo project for the duration of the covid19 pandemic.