Last night’s third presidential debate was no joke. Headlines afterwards dwelled on Donald Trump’s jaw-dropping assertion that he might not recognize Clinton’s legitimacy in the increasingly probable event that she becomes the 45th president of the United States. There were plenty of meme-worthy moments aplenty, though, from the hour-and-half hurly burly. Here’s a window to a few of the artsy ones.
Artist, writer, and curator Willa Köerner, taking a deep breath beforehand:
Painter Wendy White expressing her solidarity with a portrait:
And getting a rather less conventional portrait in return:
Designer Michael Suen:
Artist Nicole Nadeau, also picking up on Clinton’s dress and its precedents in the political imagination:
And critic and curator Ed Halter with something that is more of a commentary on her performance, we think:
Film critic Mario Alegre, on Trump’s comment that lax immigration was letting “bad hombres” into the country:
And, of course, the Internet went crazy deliberately mishearing the comment as “bad ombres.” Filmmaker Geoffrey Stevens:
Some speculation about what Trump was writing, from Glenn Howerton (aka Dennis from It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia), passed along by art critic Annie Raab:
And another one from Raab:
Jeanette Hayes, who always has something out there:
Artist Nayland Blake, responding to the exchange on whether Trump was a “puppet” of Putin:
Painter Chris Bors, lampooning Trump and picking up on Clinton’s accusation that he was crying “crocodile tears:”
Curator Cambria Floyd on what may be the most infamous two words of the night:
Plenty of people picked up on this, from journalism prof Andrew Lih:
And this really could be a work of art:
Sculptor John Powers expressed confidence that Clinton had pummeled The Donald:
Art + Auction editor and critic Sara Roffino, assessing the night:
And art historian Jessica Bell Brown, summing up the meme-material of the evening: