They’re certainly not the kind of purely creative art most people think of as ART, and it’s definitely a crossover kind of art. But if memes aren’t art, then pretty much nothing Warhol did was either. Yeah, that’s not only an argument people have made, it’s also an interesting debate about the essence of art. But Warhol did memes. To an extent, Basquiat did too.
All visual art is a form of shared consciousness, and that’s what memes are at the core.
I would even argue that making a good meme, one that actually becomes widely shared because it transmits an idea, is a very difficult form of art. There’s skill involved, and thought. It’s only partially about the format/template (in cases where that’s the expression of the meme rather than it being less formalized). There’s an element of writing to it, some design craft, and you have to find the right audience.
Memes are an art form with a low barrier to entry, but that doesn’t invalidate the form any more than cheap digital cameras invalidate photography as an art form.
They are.
They’re certainly not the kind of purely creative art most people think of as ART, and it’s definitely a crossover kind of art. But if memes aren’t art, then pretty much nothing Warhol did was either. Yeah, that’s not only an argument people have made, it’s also an interesting debate about the essence of art. But Warhol did memes. To an extent, Basquiat did too.
All visual art is a form of shared consciousness, and that’s what memes are at the core.
I would even argue that making a good meme, one that actually becomes widely shared because it transmits an idea, is a very difficult form of art. There’s skill involved, and thought. It’s only partially about the format/template (in cases where that’s the expression of the meme rather than it being less formalized). There’s an element of writing to it, some design craft, and you have to find the right audience.
Memes are an art form with a low barrier to entry, but that doesn’t invalidate the form any more than cheap digital cameras invalidate photography as an art form.