Artwork Collection

Jester's Privilege

Jesters Privilege explores internet meme culture and the ambiguous nature of "cursed images"—visuals that blur the line between art and content. Inspired by the historical jester’s right to critique without consequence, the project recontextualizes strange, contextless images from early online spaces, challenging viewers to reconsider how meaning, creativity, digital ephemera, and art are defined today.

digital media internet photography absurdist

Photography

5G Armour

An image of a man wearing a tinfoil suit of armor, reading MAD Magazine on the couch. In my research, I kept coming across these ominous videos of teenagers dressing up in tinfoil suits of armor and recording themselves in the forest. I was also... More

Photography

Catch and Release

Image of a fish taped to an ATM, with the display on the ATM showing a serene lake. A few years ago, I stumbled across this Instagram profile of a teenager in Utah (I found this information afterwards) who gained some level of fame by posting... More

Photography

Clear History

Image of all of the necessary components for a computer being soaked in a kitchen sink. I recreated this image from one I had found years ago, I think it was from a post on how to effectively wash a motherboard while having it remain functional.... More

Photography

Cocoon

Image of a woman cling-wrapped to a tree in the middle of the forest. I found the reference for this image on a message board in late 2023, a screenshot of a TikTok where a man saran wrapped himself to a tree, no context given as to why. This got... More

Photography

Frank Ocean

Image of a bath tub filled with hot dogs and hot dog water. I was drawing inspiration from a collection of images I found of strange objects in bathtubs (cracked eggs, bread, various river fish, etc.). The title is a double entendre, referencing... More

Photography

I want to see God

Image of a homemade device designed to get the user as high as possible with one inhale, featuring a whipped cream dispenser, often used for inhaling nitrous, a marijuana cigarette, vape, dab pen, and meth pipe with accompanying lighter. I... More

Photography

Male Living Space

Image of a man at a computer playing "Counter Strike 2", room lit with RGB light bulbs, the desk littered with beer cans. I wanted to play off the trope of the "male living space", and the notion that men cannot maintain their own space without a... More

Photography

These Brits might be onto something

Image of a dinner table, fish and chips on a plate, accompanied by a coupe glass of milk, and dead flowers. I found the reference for this image on Instagram, and was immediately intrigued by the idea of someone who made fish and chips without ever... More

Photography

They're safe for kids now

Image of a young woman licking a popsicle filled with cigarette butts and cigarette ash. While this isn't a complete recreation of an image, the inspiration came from a photo I saw of someone who inserted a fried egg into a popsicle mold, making an... More

Photography

User Error

Image of a public restroom with a pair of legs protruding from the top of the toilet stall. While I have lost the image that inspired this photo, I loved the idea of a person who messes up such a simple task as using a toilet that he ends up... More

Work by

Fionn McDonnell

Photography

“My BFA thesis project "Jester's Privilege" examines the shifting boundaries between internet content and contemporary art. Drawing from imagery found on message boards and social media, the project...” [More]