A catalogue essay for the exhibition The Institute of Pyschoplasmics, curated by Pil and Galia Kollectiv (eds.) Pump House Gallery, London, UK. The essay deals with irony, power and the politics of critique drawing upon US First Amendment politics. The essays was also presented as a paper at the conference The Art and Politics of Irony, an interdisciplinary conference hosted by the Institute for the Public Life of Arts and Ideas, in collaboration with Improvisation, Community and Social Practice (SSHRC-MCRI), the Centre de recherche en éthique de l’Université de Montreal and the Département d’études anglaises, Université de Montréal. Montreal, Canada, April 12-14th 2012.