Everyone Has a Plan Until They Get Punched in the Jelly, 2024, Digital

Artist’s note: Years ago, I encountered Susan Blackmore's book The Meme Machine (Oxford University Press, 1999). It proposed that cultural phenomena (language, fashions, inventions, etc.) function similarly to "selfish genes," a concept of evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. The meme concept has underwent its own huge evolution. We should invent and spread them—not like selfish [genes], but generous genes.

Tytti Heikkinen (she/her) is an artist and a poet. She's interested in urban legends, conspiracy theories, and memes; they show us [what] engaging stories are made of. In the USA, she has published a poetry collection, The Warmth of the Taxidermied Animal (Action Books, 2013), and a chapbook World Undressed (After Hours, 2023), both translated by Niina Pollari. Her writings have appeared in Siècle 21 Littérature & Société, Precipice, Flash Frontier, and Poetry Magazine, among others. She has studied comparative literature at Helsinki University and fine arts at Turku Art Academy. Her latest art pieces are/will be in Lumina Literary Journal, Miracle Monocle, Arkana, The Offing, Mayday, and The Ana.