Art Basel Hong Kong 2023, Online, March 7

Group Crit: On the Form and Function of Meme Making

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<h2>Conversations | Group Crit: On the Form and Function of Meme Making</h2>
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This roundtable focuses on the practice of meme-making as a mode of artistic production and institutional critique. Bringing together figures at the forefront of the practice, we invite each speaker to share their methods and approaches to the craft, and how they personally situate their work within the field of visual culture, in order to reflect on the form and function of meme-making today. 


Cem A., @freeze_magazine Hilde Lynn Helphenstein, @jerrygogosian Gabrielle de la Puente, The White Pube 
Moderated by Karim Sultan, Kamel Lazaar Foundation 


Cem A. is an artist and curator with a background in anthropology. He is known for running the art meme page <a href="https://www.instagram.com/freeze_magazine/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@freeze_magazine</a>. Since its inception in 2019, @freeze_magazine has become a tool for creative collaborations between Cem and fellow artists, researchers and organisations. His work explores topics such as survival and alienation in the art world, often through a hyper-reflexive lens. Selected exhibitions and installations include Theory is My Friend, Louisiana Museum, Humlebæk (2023); documenta fifteen, Kassel (2022); Hope You See Me as a Friend, Barbican Centre, London (2022); Pleased to Announce..., Versus Art Project, Istanbul (2022) and The Party, Weserhalle, Berlin (2021). 
Hilde Lynn Helphenstein is an American artist, author, podcaster, and entrepreneur who challenges traditional art world roles through multimedia and cross-disciplinary work. In 2018, she anonymously created <a href="https://www.instagram.com/jerrygogosian/?hl=en" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@jerrygogosian</a>. HLH launched <a href="https://gogosian.com/memberships" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Jerry Report</a> newsletter in 2021, which details art market trends from an economic and financial perspective. Her podcast, <a href="https://www.artsmackpodcast.com/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Art Smack</a>, quickly became a top visual arts show on Spotify and Apple in 2022. HLH has collaborated with BMW, Ruinart, Facebook, and On Running. This fall, she plans to pursue an Executive MBA at NYU Stern School of Business while continuing to run her multiple businesses and artistic practices. 
Gabrielle de la Puente, together with Zarina Muhammad, founded and now co-runs <a href="https://thewhitepube.co.uk/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The White Pube</a>, which publishes criticism on art, video games, films, books, theatre and other cultural scenes or events, in the form of text, The White Pube podcast and video reviews on their YouTube channel. They also run a <a href="https://thewhitepube.co.uk/funding-library/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Successful Funding Application Library</a> and a <a href="https://thewhitepube.co.uk/grants/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Working Class Creatives Grant</a>, and think broadly about how to make a better art world for everybody (one that is fair, accessible, and a lot more affordable). 
Karim Sultan is a curator with the Kamel Lazaar Foundation. In addition to his curatorial practice, his areas of interest and work include modernism in art and architecture in the Arab world, music and sound, animation, and games. Karim has also presented performances of his music and audiovisual works internationally. He is currently based between London and Tunis.
 
The Art Basel Hong Kong 2023 Conversations program is curated by Stephanie Bailey.