B0
B0 (be•zero) is a conceptual figure that attained popularity in the future, reaching cult status as the voice of a generation, despite their nonsensical nature. B0's elusive composition is a large reason for their success, allowing them to challenge any opposition in a guerilla-like fashion, not attached to any physical entity, or with a singular objective, but as a liberating methodology for a world in crisis.
Etymology
B0
There are many iterations of B0's graphic representation, the common thread being the combination of the letter B and number zero.
Age
Origin
ca. 2016
unknown
The word B0 is partially an abbreviation of Being and Nothingness, referring to Jean-Paul Sartre's seminal treatise, which like other Existentialist's work concerns the fundamental essence of human nature, consciousness, free will, and social philosophy, topics which became increasingly important throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. According to some, B0 also derives from a combination of two definitions, in Italian and Danish, creating a hybrid definition;
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Despite B0's diverse linguistic and philosophical origins, B0 evolved into a simplified meme-like character, functioning as an open-source simulacrum for anyone to employ, much like the Guy Fawkes or Salvador Dali masks transcended their cinematic contexts and became symbols of anti-establishment revolution.
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{Italian} slang expressing a lack of knowing;
{Danish} 1. [verb] to live or inhabit; 2. [noun] an estate (inheritance);
{hybrid} a reluctantly blissful acceptance of life's mysteries
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Cultural Manifestations
Due to its memetic nature, B0 became iconic due to it's adaptability, fecundity, humor, relatability, and political nature. Many artists were therefore among the first to adopt B0 as a guiding principle or muse, forming an open-ended and anonymous global collective, personifying B0 into a mysterious public figure. B0 took hold of the zeitgeist and became the word for a common feeling of fatigue with the status quo, a counter-cultural antidote to disinformation, austerity, polarization, cults of personality, and desensitization, which were increasingly prevalent.
B0's anti-establishment ethos also precluded brands and other capitalist initiatives from co-opting or undermining its success, making B0 a divisive and controversial figure as it disrupted the status quo. However, as this push-back soon became associated with corrupt people in power, publicists and marketing specialists quickly learned it was a brand killer among an increasingly disgruntled and desperate public, giving B0 a foothold in board rooms the world over– it was more lucrative to adapt to the new humble and open-minded ethos than hold onto counter-intuitive and destructive traditions.
"B0 exists at the intersection of the letter B and
the number 0, thereby celebrating an existential marriage between being and nothingness. Being nothing, B0 spends all of the time lying down, meaning B0 identifies as an emoticon.
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B0 is a sincere caricature of the human struggle for meaning– a symbolic placeholder for the absence of any higher authority. B0 is a limited personification of the unlimited mystery that pervades the multiverse, emphasizing and (to an extent) celebrating the fallacy of absurd reasoning and ephemeral passions that fill the void. B0 is the patron saint of amateurs and fools, those who know they know nothing and persist fearlessly anyway. B0 supplies the necessary faith to follow unknown routes, delivering every unexpected fortuity along the way.
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B0 is a post-perceptual prophet of nothingness; an immaterial and omnipresent icon that transcends and unifies the object and subject. B0 is the unseen aura that presides in everything, formalizing the presence of an absence, and unifies the figurative and literal ad absurdum; a supernaturally underqualified boss; a mentor that keeps ghosting you; a childish superego; B0 simulates authority only to mock its self- delusions."
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- one of the earliest known descriptions of B0 [source unknown]
Examples of Work
Quotations
"B0 is the personification of artistic genius' je ne sais quoi"
Anna Wintour
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"B0 is the jester we needed for the new Millenium"
Metahaven
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"B0 is my favourite substitute teacher in the canon of Omnipresent Icons"
Richard Dawkins
"B0 is a post-ironic simulation of divinity, an over-simplified solution to the complexities of human fallacy; a sincere and charismatic silence"
Noam Chomsky
"If God is dead because we killed him, B0 is undead because we have yet to kill ourselves"
Slavoj Zizek
"In today's society, B0 owns the majority stake in the attention economy."
Elon Musk
"B0 inspired me to leave school."
Greta Thunberg
"B0 only sells their work at extortionate prices, to punish those who try claim ownership of B0; all proceeds go towards filling the void"
Maurizio Catalan
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"B0 has a growing fanbase that enact B0’s will cluelessly. My parents even named me after B0 unintentionally."
Bo Burnham
"B0 helps me decide which MFA graduate’s portfolio are worth utilizing as a vehicle for money laundering"
Hans Ulrich Obrist
"B0 anoints true artists with the mysterious right to be above it all, and monetize gibberish into an exponential career trajectory."
Banksy