Exploring the idiocy of crowds: the uncompromising illustrations of Feixue Mei

An interdisciplinary artist and an assistant professor based in Missouri, USA, Feixue Mei is fascinated by mass media and internet culture.

From the series, The Crowd © Feixue Mei

From the series, The Crowd © Feixue Mei

Her work explores diverse media such as publications, videos, performances, illustrations, comics, and installations, and examines how they can be used to address such issues as globalisation, cultural manipulation, language adaptation, intimate relation, as well as fluid identity.

The images featured here are taken from her series entitled 'The Crowd', which explore people’s negative online group behaviour. "An individual immersed for some length of time in a crowd soon finds oneself either in consequence of magnetic influence given out by the crowd or from some other cause of which we are ignorant," she explains.

"They are impulsive and irritable. They exaggerate the sentiments. They follow each other. They judge for no reason. Each image focuses on a particular theme, such as cyberbully, bad words on social media, fan gaze, and judgment, and more."

From the series, The Crowd © Feixue Mei

From the series, The Crowd © Feixue Mei

From the series, The Crowd © Feixue Mei

From the series, The Crowd © Feixue Mei

From the series, The Crowd © Feixue Mei

From the series, The Crowd © Feixue Mei

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