Are memes art?

I find this question very interesting. It feels like it can say a lot. First of all, memes itself is a symbol, a symbolic language, which belongs to the secondary creation of existing things. Emoji, for example, is the result of highly generalizing and simplifying people’s facial expressions, forming a unique symbolic language. 

People always think “this is art.”

and “this is meme.”

No, I don’t think so. I think memes are art, art is to reflect reality in an image way, but more socially ideological than reality. “There are many different symbols in Japanese manga. The cartoonist would draw expressions that show a person sweating profusely or a light bulb appearing on his head when he bursts out with an idea.” These little expressions are exaggerated enough to express people’s little inner turmoil, and the simple combination can express a person’s current state, or the state they are in over time.

An expression contains our or the author’s feelings, which are understood differently by each person and developed through the feelings of things in life. Since entering the Internet era, emoji packs have become a kind of pop culture, and what this pop culture reflects is the current state of people’s spiritual life. Each expression pack is a person’s portrayal of a certain event or emotion of the rain.

So I personally believe  that memes are art.

2 thoughts on “Are memes art?”

  1. I love how you used emoji as a reference. I believe that Emoji’s are the earliest forms of memes. They embody human expression online. Memes are an evolved version of this and are more complex because of how malleable they are. Thank you for this reference. I forgot all bout how emojis relate to this,

  2. I like how you used the screaming man as an example. It was great showing how that is an art and a meme in one setting. And the emojis. Emojis are used so much nowadays and have a great representation for memes. The emojis speak for us through text.

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