Albertine
Thunier
I am a PhD candidate in the Department of Communication at the Université de Montréal, currently working with Aleksandra Kaminska and Thierry Bardini. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UQÀM, a Master’s degree in Political Analysis and a second Master’s degree in Digital Humanities both from Université Paris 8. My dissertation focuses on memes, on and off the Internet, from the perspective of the playful attitudes that constitute them. My research-creation approach proposes to highlight the logics of which memes, present and past, respond through the creation of a transmediatic memetic game. My main inspirations are tarot cards, Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role play games and contemporary internet memes. I am on the executive committee of the Hexagram network, the current coordinator of the Bricolab, as well as a member of the Artefact Lab. I also own a mildly popular Instagram meme account and a very niche Tiktok profile where I play with various forms of memes.
In a few words, explain what drew you to this project.
I am interested in developing a better understanding of cultural and popular representations of sleep. I am particularly curious about the continuities and discontinuities between premodern and modern ways of representing sleepers in traditional and digital folklore.
Q & A
How would you describe your relationship to sleep?
Two roommates who met on craigslist and who don’t have much in common but who stay together because the rent is cheap and the apartment is nice.
What do you think is the biggest misconception people have about sleep?
The common assumption that sleeps deprivation or denial is something inherently bad or unhealthy. I suspect that this idea is often complementary to a mandatory rest and work cycle that allows workers to meet daytime’s labour productivity standards.
Do you have a memory of a particularly good or bad night’s sleep?
Last night I died in my dream because I couldn’t zoom in on certain information on Google maps. It was stressful.
Are your strict about your sleep hygiene routine? When or why did this become important for you?
I find it uncanny that we tend to primarily think of sleep in clinical/hygienist terms. I’d like to keep my sleep(less) routine in the margin of those biopolitical markers.
What is something you cannot sleep without?
My cats, my girlfriend or my friends.
What is the strangest place you have ever fallen asleep?
Curled up next to some kind of Palais Royal in Paris.
Do you have any favourites/recommendations for cultural works that address sleep in some way?
The dreamcore/weirdcore/liminalcore aesthetics on Tiktok.