TROLLING AESTHETICS: THE LULZ AS CREATIVE PRACTICE LEE KNUTTILA A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY GRADUATE PROGRAM IN CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES YORK UNIVERSITY TORONTO, ONTARIO JUNE 2015 © LEE KNUTTILA, 2015 Abstract “The LULZ” became common Internet parlance in the mid-2000s to describe a wide array of online phenomena, from childish pranks, to the peculiar discourse of anonymous message boards, to a shadowy and subversive ideology. By the end of the decade, the canon of images and icons associated with the LULZ entered into artistic practice and along with it a certain dark understanding of the “digital condition” of online mediation. “Trolling Aesthetics: the LULZ as Creative Practice” charts how the LULZ began as an aesthetic sense and sensibility on the notorious message board 4chan. Akin to most online content, it quickly morphed into a multitude of new forms, including, for example, the video remix practice YouTube Poop, which takes the aesthetic logic of 4chan but changes its creative systems and output. The result is both a discordant bric-a-brac of absurd digital art and an example of how the LULZ functions, beyond idle message boards, as a purposeful creative work. The final chapter follows this trajectory into direct artistic practices. Unlike many of the earlier iterations that sputter rather than comment fully on what such digital culture means, artist projects like Brad Troemel’s The Jogging mobilizes the LULZ to reflect on a network of technology obsessed with speed, time, identity, and representations. Through a blend of material, expressive, and aesthetic approaches, this dissertation is both a historical analysis of the emergence of the LULZ as well as a socio-historical critique of an online world willing to foster, participate, and partake in such an ethos. ii Dedicated to wondrous art and terrible Internet. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my deepest gratitude to the individuals who enabled me to finish this project. First and foremost, this work would lay in ruin without the unwavering encouragement, reassurance, generosity, and inspiration of my wife Laine Gabel: she calms my heart, raises my spirits, and stirs my mind. I am deeply indebted to the amazing team of Janine Marchessault and Sharon Hayashi. It was their combined brilliance that propelled the project from a rambling on telegraphs and lightning to its current state. I thank them both for their critical insights, enriching suggestions, and unrelenting support. I am very fortunate for the stellar committee put together for my defence: a deep and sincere thank-you to Gabriella (Biella) Coleman, John McCullough, Brenda Longfellow, and David Cecchetto. A massive thank-you to Graduate Program Assistant extraordinaire Kuowei Lee for his long hours of work and ability to solve any and all administrative problems. Finally, this project would not exist without the remarkable support of my family: Wendee Kubik, Murray Knuttila, Erin Knuttila, and Andre Magnan. To my friends too numerous to list here, I appreciate you all for having serious conversations about all the silly things. iv Table of Contents Abstract ....................................................................................................................................... ii Dedication. ................................................................................................................................. iii Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ iv List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... viii Introduction: Welcome to the Abject Internet ............................................................... 1 Chapter One: Methodology of the LULZ .......................................................................... 11 1.2 Towards an Aesthetics of the LULZ .................................................................................. 12 1.3 Bruno Latour’s Method.......................................................................................................... 15 1.4 What are the LULZ? ................................................................................................................. 19 1.5 The Labour of the LULZ ......................................................................................................... 23 1.6 The LULZ as a Quasi-Object ................................................................................................. 28 1.7 Following the LULZ ................................................................................................................. 31 1.8 The Problem of Correlation ................................................................................................. 34 1.9 Speculative Realism and Understanding Media .......................................................... 37 1.10 Assemblage Theory and the LULZ .................................................................................. 41 1.11 Towards a Theory of the LULZ ........................................................................................ 44 Chapter Two: Online Creativity, Aesthetics, and the LULZ ...................................... 50 2.2 Remix Culture ............................................................................................................................ 51 2.3 Participating in the LULZ ...................................................................................................... 53 2.4 The Limitations of Participatory Culture ....................................................................... 55 2.5 The LULZ and Parody ............................................................................................................. 58 2.6 Parody and Materialism in the LULZ................................................................................ 65 2.7 A Primer to Aesthetic Theory: Kant .................................................................................. 68 2.8 A Primer to Aesthetic Theory: Heidegger ...................................................................... 71 2.9 A Primer to Aesthetic Theory: Dewey ............................................................................. 74 v 2.10 A Primer to Aesthetic Theory: Criticisms .................................................................... 76 2.11 A Primer to Aesthetic Theory: Berleant ....................................................................... 78 2.13 A Primer to Aesthetic Theory: Rancière ....................................................................... 81 2.14 A Theory for the Aesthetics of the LULZ ...................................................................... 86 Chapter Three: Origin Points—the Case of 4chan ...................................................... 90 3.2 A History of Channels and Chans ....................................................................................... 90 3.3 Early History of 4chan ........................................................................................................... 92 3.4 The Shapes of Technological Limits ................................................................................. 95 3.5 4chan Becomes 4chan ............................................................................................................ 99 3.6 4chan and Memes .................................................................................................................. 101 3.7 The Cruelty of the LULZ....................................................................................................... 106 3.8 The Start of Anonymous...................................................................................................... 109 3.9 Forging an Aesthetics of the LULZ .................................................................................. 111 3.10 Engaging with the LULZ on 4chan ................................................................................ 114 3.11 A Field of Aesthetics in a Land of Idleness ................................................................ 120 3.12 A Spectacle of Possibility .................................................................................................. 122 3.13 Becoming Anon .................................................................................................................... 125 3.14 A Question of Politics ......................................................................................................... 130 3.15 Rage Comics and the Everyday ...................................................................................... 132 3.16 The Positive Side: Parody and Social Media ............................................................. 136 3.17 The Negative Side: Aggression Trumps Transgression ....................................... 138 Chapter Four: Evolving the LULZ—YouTube Poop .................................................. 141 4.2 The Start of YouTube Poop ................................................................................................ 142 4.3 The Establishment of a Practice ....................................................................................... 144 4.4 The Growth of a Practice ..................................................................................................... 148 4.5 The Anatomy