Politigram and the Post-left | Joshua Citarella

A unique look into young online memetic subcultures where gen Z teens explore radical politics such as: eco-extremism, neoreaction, anarcho-primitivism, transhumanism, anarcho-capitalism, alt-right, post-left, egoism and cyber-nihilism. 

From the author: "Politigram & the Post-left as a short-run artist’s book in September of 2018. Approximately 55 copies were sold over direct message and email. In the years leading up to its publication I realized that few (if any) of my peers or studio visitors were familiar with the content and communities I was exploring.

The original version of the book was a working journal of my art and life surrounding the project; writings about earlier work, anecdotes about travel and in-progress images. The essay was intended to be a handbook for artists who were curious about these online spaces but unsure where to start. I chose to print this material as a way to restrict the circulation to its target audience only.

One copy was available at Codex Books in the east village of NYC. Sometime during mid-October, a Politigram user visited the store and purchased the book along with several other texts related to left political theory. That evening, the essay was scanned and uploaded online. It circulated quickly."

About the Author

Joshua Citarella is an artist and internet culture writer. He writes about emergent subcultures, memes and radical politics on social media. His work has been cited in The New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, ArtForum, Interview, MotherJones, Rolling Stone and many more. He has lectured at the Museum of Modern Art, University of Pennsylvania, Stanford University, Art Basel, Rhode Island School of Design and many others. In 2018, he published a book called Politigram & the Post-left, a unique look into young online memetic subcultures where gen Z teens explore radical politics like eco-extremism, neoreaction, anarcho-primitivism, transhumanism, anarcho-capitalism, alt-right, post-left, egoism and cyber-nihilism.

Joshua Citarella lives in New York City.