'local memetica'

'LOCAL MEMETICA: THREE INSTANCES OF GENIUS LOCI
Abstract/proposal accepted for the 48th Semiotic Society of America annual conference
Toronto, Canada, 30 October – 03 November 2024

Abstract:  “Memetica” is an ongoing project that seeks to expand the concept of semiosphere to include
not only the living, bio-psycho-social world but also the non-living, physico-spatio-temporal world,
including the geographical.  Memetica capitalizes upon the popular rhetoric of memes as a way into the
more profound discussion of information and semiotics, advancing the idea that signification constitutes
the very fabric of our social and natural existence.  Such signification is not primarily abstract but, rather,
is particular to localized instances: specific places within demarcated time frames.  In this
paper/presentation, I discuss three exemplar instances of dynamic local semiotics.  These exemplars
include Niagara’s whirlpool (water); Handwoven Drawings at Detroit’s Matéria (artwork); and a Buffalo,
New York, to Las Vegas relocation (conceptual mapping).  All with origins in the Great Lakes and
proximity to Toronto, these particular cases are where I most dramatically witness the ancient genius loci
at play here and now.

Keywords: memetica; information; semiotics; nature; artwork; geography'