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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Arts and Architecture MEMES TO AN END: AN ANALYSIS OF ONLINE ACTIVIST ART FROM THE PENN STATE BLUE OUT MOVEMENT TO END CHILD ABUSE A Thesis in Art Education by Laura March © 2013 Laura March Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science May 2013 The thesis of Laura March was reviewed and approved* by the following: B. Stephen Carpenter II Professor of Art Education Thesis Co-Adviser Kimberly A. Powell Associate Professor of Education & Art Education Thesis Co-Adviser Christine Marmé Thompson Professor of Art Education Graduate Program Coordinator of the Art Education Program *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT This thesis examines the use of contemporary Internet memes within online activist spaces. The novelty of social networks limits the amount of research currently available on the topic, restricting information on the pedagogical repercussions of social media within social justice art education. Visual imagery shared on the 2011 Blue Out Facebook event page offers an opportunity to discover new implications for the field. All content on the Facebook event page was examined to compare rates of interaction (“Likes,” “Shares,” and replies) of different posts types. The high proportion of interaction enjoyed by the Blue Out Internet memes, as compared to hyperlink and text, sheds light onto how these works functioned within the event’s online activist environment. Furthermore, this study uses visual discourse analysis (Rose, 2012) to examine the ideas portrayed by the Blue Out Internet memes. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vi List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... viii Preface .............................................................................................................................. ix Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... xi Chapter 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Significance of Study ....................................................................................................... 2 Research Questions .......................................................................................................... 3 Defining Success .............................................................................................................. 3 Data Collection and Analysis ........................................................................................... 4 Overview of the Sandusky/Penn State Child Rape Scandal ............................................ 5 Origins of the Blue Out .................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2 Literature Review .................................................................................................... 13 Memes .............................................................................................................................. 13 Internet Memes ......................................................................................................... 15 Critiques of Memetics .............................................................................................. 16 Arts Activism ................................................................................................................... 17 Art and Transformative Aesthetic Experiences ....................................................... 17 Art Education and Social Justice Artmaking ........................................................... 20 Color and Awareness ............................................................................................... 23 Social Media, Engagement, and Online Activism ........................................................... 24 Social Media as a Site for Engagement and Art Activism ....................................... 24 User-Generated Content and Engagement ............................................................... 25 Studying Social Media in the Social Justice Art Classroom .................................... 28 Chapter 3 Framework, Design & Methodology ...................................................................... 31 Framework ....................................................................................................................... 31 Research Design ............................................................................................................... 32 Methodology .................................................................................................................... 33 Chapter 4 Findings ................................................................................................................... 36 Rates of Interaction .......................................................................................................... 36 Images Studied ................................................................................................................. 37 Strategies of Visual Discourse Analysis .......................................................................... 38 Visual Discourse Analysis ............................................................................................... 38 Sources ..................................................................................................................... 38 Reoccurring References ........................................................................................... 42 Effects of Truth ........................................................................................................ 43 Complexity and Contradictions ................................................................................ 44 v Visibility ................................................................................................................... 46 General Findings .............................................................................................................. 47 Images Earn Interactions .......................................................................................... 48 Themes of Visual Discourse Analysis ..................................................................... 49 Chapter 5 Discussion ............................................................................................................... 63 Summary of Study ........................................................................................................... 63 Responding to Research Questions .................................................................................. 67 1. How did the Blue Out Internet memes function within the event’s Facebook page? ................................................................................................................. 67 2. What themes were portrayed by the most successful Blue Out Internet memes? ............................................................................................................. 67 Implications of Study ....................................................................................................... 68 Interaction rates ........................................................................................................ 68 Abundant Appropriation .......................................................................................... 69 Ubiquitous Use of Text ............................................................................................ 70 Persistence of Memeplexes ...................................................................................... 71 Popularity of Photoshop ........................................................................................... 72 Sloppy Slipups ......................................................................................................... 72 Using Internet Memes in Social Justice Art Education ............................................ 73 Recommendations for Future Research ........................................................................... 75 Epilogue: One Year Later ........................................................................................................ 77 Appendix A Definitions of Terms .......................................................................................... 79 Appendix B Detailed Timeline of Events: 11/5/2011 – 11/11/2011 ...................................... 80 Appendix C Facebook Page Control ....................................................................................... 113 Appendix D Blue Out Internet Meme Data Selection ............................................................ 115 Appendix E Visual Discourse Analysis By Image ................................................................. 116 References ................................................................................................................................ 121 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.1. Timeline ................................................................................................................ 11 Figure 1.2. Hyperlinked Screenshot of Blue Out Origin Video. ............................................. 12 Figure 2.1. One Does Not Simply…