Mike Watson, "The Memeing of Mark Fisher: How the Frankfurt School Foresaw Capitalist Realism and What to Do about It" (Zero Books, 2021)

4 snips

May 18, 2022

Mike Watson, a writer and cultural theorist, discusses Mark Fisher's legacy in critical online spaces, the democracy of memes and their aesthetic warfare, the Acid Left, and how the Frankfurt School thinkers foreshadowed our current moment. Watson explores the relevance of Fisher's ideas in the context of the current economic and psychological depression caused by the pandemic. He also draws parallels between Fisher's work and the theories of the Frankfurt School, urging the online left to build a real-life cultural and political movement.

Ask episode

Chapters

Transcript

Episode notes

Introduction

00:00 • 2min

Mark Fisher: From Anarchism to Art

01:42 • 15min

The Power of New Media and the Creation of Constellations

17:02 • 25min

Adorno's Perspective on Identity Thinking and the Role of Abstract Art on the Internet

42:17 • 3min

The Relationship between Aesthetics and Politics

45:37 • 26min

Building a Movement: From the Internet to the Streets

01:11:15 • 5min

Online Controversy, Insights, and a Book on Mark Fisher

01:15:57 • 2min

Through his blog K-Punk, Mark Fisher become one of the cult figures of cultural theory after the economic crash of 2008. One of Fisher’s insights, widely taken up by the online memesphere, was that capitalism breeds depression. Mike Watson picks up Fisher’s prognosis when the locked-down pandemic world is mired in a depression that is economic and psychological, and no doubt exacerbated by the transfer of culture and life online.

In the aftermath, The Memeing of Mark Fisher (Zero Books, 2021) revisits the Frankfurt School theorists who worked in the shadow of World War Two, during the rise of the culture industry. In examining their thoughts and drawing parallels with Fisher’s Capitalist Realism, Watson aims to render the Frankfurt School as an incisive theoretical toolbox for the post-Covid digital age.

Taking in the phenomena of QAnon, twitch streaming, and memes, Watson argues that the dichotomy between culture and political praxis is a false one. As more people have access to the means for theoretical and critical engagement online, he urges the online left to build a real-life cultural and political movement.

Mike Watson speaks to Pierre d’Alancaisez about Mark Fisher’s legacy in critical online spaces, the democracy of memes and their aesthetic warfare, the Acid Left, and how the Frankfurt School thinkers foreshadowed our current moment.

Mike Watson is a theorist, critic and curator who is principally focused on the relationship between culture, new media and politics. He hosts the podcast Theorywave Nights.

Pierre d’Alancaisez is a contemporary art curator, cultural strategist, researcher. Sometime scientist, financial services professional.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/politics-and-polemics