Never before have I ever asked myself the question, “Are memes art?” If you had asked me around 2013-2016, I would’ve said no. But now? Absolutely.

If you’re like me and like to go by definitions, the Apple definition of art is “the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.” Beyond the creativity aspect of this definition, I want to tackle the emotional aspect of it. In the video above, the speaker discusses how memes are more seen as inside jokes. Inside jokes and memes both share one trait as the driving force of their appeal: reliability (or pathos if you want to be fancy).

However, if we go by this definition method of defining topics, a meme is defined as “an element of a culture or system of behavior that may be considered to be passed from one individual to another by nongenetic means, especially imitation.” I’m not a fan of this definition. Cause if we go by that definition of a meme, then slogans are memes. By Apple’s definition, Porky Pig’s “That’s all folks!” is a meme. Dunking your oreo’s, or cookies in general, is a meme. Me saying “bless me” to myself because my grandfather taught me to is a meme. To differentiate these definitions, I’ve decided to make a new word to keep the psychological aspect of the meaning and the modern description of a meme alive while being incapable of confusing future scholars. The first word I made was diagmeme, a combination of diagogí (the Greek word for conduct and behavior) and meme—pronounced dee-ahg-meem. The second word is pretty simple, behavimeme—pronounced bee-hayve-uh-meem.

A more interesting question is, what type of art are memes. I believe that memes should have their own category. When most people describe art, they usually have sub-types of art. Abstract art, Horror art, Pop art, Modern art, etc. However, memes also follow this guideline. Above, we have a subset of horror memes deemed cursed images. In addition, there are dank memes, offensive memes, political memes, etc.

Yet, from there, we dive deeper into another web of complicated questions. What makes the image above different from photography? What makes it different from horror art in general? What separates a meme from a comic. So many gray areas.

I typically tend to like memes that poke fun or comment on subjects that I like—specifically, media.

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