This thesis began as a way to understand current visual cultures in the context of consumerism. To establish future visual cultures, we must know the past. The thesis analyzed nostalgia’s relevance in contemporary culture. As consumed nostalgia is the current state of nostalgia, the methods of subverting, reflecting, or transforming consumed nostalgia were investigated in order to subvert capitalist realism as a visual culture.

This can be achieved through exploring groups especially noted as capable of resisting consumer capitalism such as queer activists and post-modern artists. The goal was to investigate the methods in which art is able to subvert these structures in order to create future cultures. From research as well as the artistic project a part of the thesis, the thesis then progressed as developing an understanding for becoming queer nomad.

The characteristics of subverting capitalist realism within artistic works were analyzed and resulted in the exhibited thesis project Remembering Queer Nomad (2023). Remembering Queer Nomad is a six-part series containing sculptural works, sound & video installations, community-based art, and recycled found objects. The findings of the artistic research derived the framework of becoming queer nomad.

This distinguishes itself from being a queer person and coming from an international, or nomadic, background, into the role of a person capable of transforming visual, ontological, and physical spaces. As a case study, the results and process are documented and evaluated. The work is intended to inspire people to develop their own frameworks for creating alternative futures to capitalist realism.