Piper Curtis
Thesis supervisor: Alessandra Renzi
Thesis title: Alternative Instagram Memes: Intersectional Community and Collaborative Storytelling in the Digital Age
Piper Curtis is an intermedial artist, musician, and master’s graduate from the Media Studies program at Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal.
Their research centered around alternative, Marxist-feminist Instagram memes, considered their potential as collaborative digital storytelling tools; the subversive power of online confessions; and the role of comedy in surviving this life.
They produce music as Piper Curtis, play in the bands Sunforger and Dykea, and have performed at the international music and arts festivals the OBEY Convention (now EVERYSEEKER) and Suoni Per Il Popolo.
They have a background in campus-community radio, live music production, and podcasting. They were the Communications Coordinator for the Digital (Im)materialities May 2021 virtual conference, a research assistant on the Landscape of Hope project, and currently work as the Feminist Media Studio technician.
They were also an FRQSC research grant recipient.
Publications. writings and/or artwork:
- ME(MES) – An article and collection of memes for ASAP/J (Association for the Study of the Arts of the Present), digital issue on “transmedial autotheories,” as part of the special issue of ASAP/Journal on “autotheory.” Co-edited by Alex Brostoff and Lauren Fournier, Fall 2021 (Forthcoming).
- Talking to Each Other – A Collective Sounding Project on accessible feminist listening and sounding practices in collaboration with the Feminist Media Studio, Access in the Making Lab, and Accessibilize Montreal. May 2021. https://feministmediastudio.ca/talking-to-each-other-a-collective-sounding-project/
- The Secret Sounds of Plants: Listening Garden – An interactive listening garden installation as part of the 2020 Art Matters Festival exhibition on Conservation. March 10-13, 2020. https://pipercurtis.com/Listening-Garden
- #deardiarymemes – An interactive meme diary on Instagram. November 2019 – ongoing. https://pipercurtis.com/Deardiarymemes
Social media links: