V.I.B.E (Viral Ideology Broadcast Experiment)

V.I.B.E explores the rise of “vibe culture” as a dominant mode of sense-making in the post-truth era, through a speculative electoral campaign and multimedia installation.

In a media landscape characterized by algorithmic bubbles, short-form video content and the consequential collapse of shared reality, reason is being threatened by ambiently spread propaganda – vibes. Drawing inspiration from the memetic strategies of contemporary far-right movements (such as RemiliaCorp, NRx, 4chan, MAGA), the project investigates how hyper-online weaponized aesthetics normalize violence and advance authoritarianism through affectual manipulation.

The most recent post on EU rules on transparency and targeting of political advertising is this. It could be valuable to leverage our project to highlight the significant institutional knowledge gap on this subject, focusing on the EU as a case study. This gap undermines the effectiveness of monitoring and enforcing accountability for misconduct during electoral campaigns.

The work could also serve as a foundation for broader research into psychological operations (psyops) into political contexts. One possibility might involve an accelerated “course on vibes,” perhaps designed to introduce older generations to contemporary internet culture and memes, with an ironic or satirical twist. While we are already doing substantial work to expose these dynamics, exploring this angle could still be both insightful and engaging.