It’s 1960………..

Two men made a bet.

One man is a publisher named Bennett Cerf.

One man is an author named Theo Geisel. 

$50 on the line.  

This appears insignificant to me and you.

Its not !

By the end of this blog

You will know what the bet was about. who won . why they won. And why it matters….

Even to you ………. 

I promise.  It does.  Just keep reading……….. 

 

My name is Belal Alawi. I am a psychology major with a keen interest in how creative minds work…

 

After reading dozens of books written on creativity written by  

• Advertisers
•  Novelists
•  Entrepreneurs 
• CEOS
• Inventors
• Designers
•  Philosophers
• cognitive psychologists…….

 

I have come across a few insights that can make even a chimpanzee more creative…..

 

 

I am here to share with you One of these insights ( yes this is connected to the bet we talked about earlier) 

 

This insight will give you the power to  manipulate your own mind to….

1. Generate new ideas 

2. Come up with novel solutions to real world problems…

 Before I tell you about the insight and the bet…

please allow me to share with you my favorite quote of all time by one the greatest psychologists of the 21st century……

 

 

 

Why do I love this quote ? 

At one point in my life I came to accept that I can’t control the external world but only myself and how I react to it.  

Accepting this …

– Put me at peace and helped me only focus on what I can control. 

– Prepare for obstacles instead of complaining. 

– Embrace uncertainty and see it as a chance to grow. 

This doesn’t mean you should stop planning.

It just means you should make a part of your plan that your plan will not always work

 Be prepared to improvise …

 

BTW: Click on pic if you want to participate in sharing you favorite quote of all time.

 

Ok….. back to creativity …………….

 

Insight = use constraints to direct your mind

 

What if I ask you: 

tell me a story :  Chances are you won’t know where to start, your mind will be all over the place searching for a story. Chances are you wouldn’t come up with a very unique story quickly. 

You will stumble and struggle.

 Your mind might be overwhelmed  because telling your mind to tell a story is too broad.

Let’s say  add some constraints and see what happens to your mind….

 

tell me a personal story in your freshman year in college:

These constraints force your mind will begin to remember a few stories, maybe the first time you entered the cafeteria or how you met your friend, or maybe your first day in ct 101 class .

 

Noticed what changed ?

 Constraints direct and force your mind  to  narrow down and be more creative. 

 

Think of it like this………. 

 

 

no  Constraints                                                               Constraints

 

 

Or like this……….

no  Constraints                                                               Constraints

 

 

OR LIKE THIS………

 

 The bet. 

The man named Bennett Cerf  was the founder of the publishing firm, Random House( you probably don’t know him)

 

However……

The second man named Theo Geisel is the famous author you might know him as……….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Seuss.

 

 Cerf challenged that Dr. Seuss and bet $50 that he can’t write a book using only 50 different words

Dr. Seuss took on the challenge and wrote the best selling book Green Eggs and Ham using only 50 different words. It has sold 200 million copies since it was published. 

 

Dr Suess won the 50 dollars and won the bet. 

You also won by reading my blog and finding out the power of constraints . 

Go out there and CREATE but remember…..

This is your brain without constraints = 

And this is your brain with constraints

 

 

Assignment 2- make a sports poster.

 

check out https://www.canva.com/ to create amazing new posters.

 

 

 

 

 

For me, Memes has always been a great way to cheer myself up. I send memes to my friends as well and that definitely is a great way for me to laugh and relax. I believe that Memes gives us the option to be cheerful and happy amongst the tough times.

Obviously CT  has been one of my favorite class because of the creative content creation, so here are my thoughts about it through a meme:

This is another one of my favorite memes, trying to watch my favorite shows but there are always assignments to complete:

During my regular semester, it is very rare to have free time, and then when I have more than enough free time left, so I get suspicious 😛

This is a common occurrence before classes and meetings, I find it funny and thought of making this meme:

I like this meme because of how relatable the content is:

These are my thoughts every night and loved the content as well:

This one is very funny as well:

“When your CT101 assignment is making GIFs…”

I think that CT101 is a pretty unique and cool college course, not many people can say my college homework for this week to make a GIF ; I think it’s really engaging and fun but also educational about internet culture and interaction as well as being informative about how to write things like blogs. Hence why I choose this GIF! 

Initial Inspiration

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Concert You Want to Be At

I chose this particular post, one because I found it very unique and creative. And two, because I love Michael Jackson (sorry for the screenshot being blurry). I don’t have much experience with photo shop, so I thought I’d give this one a try.

My whole life, I’ve always wanted to go to an Ariana Grande Concert, and hopefully meet her one day. She’s always been such a huge inspiration to me, and It would be amazing to sit front row at one of her concerts.

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This next post I found to be hilarious and quite factual, being that it’s a question that could be on everyone’s mind. What Happened To Mario?

Create a Magazine Cover

I thought I’d give this one a try, considering that I’ve made magazine covers for myself before on Instagram. A couple of months ago, there was a trend going around where everyone was doing the “Vogue Challenge.” It’s basically where you take a photo of yourself and edit it like you’re on Vogue Magazine.

     

Again, I apologize for the picture being so blurry, but these photos are some of my very favorites. Ever since quarantine started, I have taken up photography as a hobby, along with modeling. All in all, I can definitely say that I will enjoy doing a lot of these DS106 assignments, challenging the creative edge and working on graphic design.

(Here is my uploaded assignment to the DS106 Website)

 

The “Vogue Challenge”

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More of A Challenge But Good To Learn

#tdc3338 #ds106 What do you see through your window? GIF it to us.

This assignment looks very interesting and well detailed. It’s definitely a challenge, especially if you want to do it correctly. It is more of a challenge, but would be good to learn in the future. I think that it would be very useful for graphic design and just art in general.

On the first day of CT 101, when I hear that our cameras should be on, I panic.

I’m not particularly eager to show my face, so I felt trouble with that. When I hear that we should talk as much as possible in class and that this was an interactive class, I thought about my communication skills that are none plus my social anxiety, thought why I would choose a sociable class. But I do not hate it, it is a comfortable class to be in, and I like the assignments.

still, when the professor says who wants to volunteer to show their post, I am always like:

Well as a short answer, yes.

For the more sophisticated answer

Considering memes as art depends on your perspective. However if you take your time to create something that causes the viewer to think or become emotional, its art. If people can consider Jackson Pollock’s Autumn Rhythm art that was said to be him splashing and dripping paint on a horizontal canvas art then Memes are art.

This is Autumn Rhythm by the way 🙂

I don’t even speak much in CT101 but I’m pretty loud when typing out a blog. Its very stress relieving when I don’t really have critically think about what to say.

Sorry for posting this blog at the last minute

Ok Obama, I said I was sorry 🙁

Well first of all saying memes is not art is like saying this class isn’t art and I truly believe that any class and/or anything in general that tests your creativity is a form of art. So anybody that thinks otherwise can fight about it

Nah I’m just joking. No fighting. No violence. I kid.

Anyways…

Based on an article that I got from https://www.clozette.co/article/memes-art-form-7315 , it states that memes are a form of self expression that “a scene from an obscure film and slap on a wholly different and unrelated topic onto it and still make it enjoyable for many makes memes a language of its own. More than inciting laughter, it also becomes an interesting way for us all to express our sentiments.” Which I agree with because 8 times out of 10 what’s written on the meme has absolutely nothing to do with the actual scene but the facial expressions and/or reactions make the experience so much funnier. Memes are super relatable and allow people to put their creativity to the test and that’s exactly why memes are a form of art.

I’ve learned much about memes and GIFs through my interactions on social media and the many other sites that use them. People spend a lot of time creating these images with words attached to them with the hopes of making the viewer laugh or feel a certain way about whatever the image is. Memes have the power to do this and as more people are introduced to them, the sooner the rest of the world is going to realize how memes are developing their own art form.

Are Memes Art?

Memes are used across many platforms to share ideas and add on to the ever evolving culture within the internet. They definitely are a form of self expression for people, but for others they are something more than that. The meme making process is a hobby for many, and the satisfaction of having someone like/share your meme can equate to an artist watching people in an art gallery admire his painting. It takes time and a lot of experience with memes to think up witty and funny ways to turn a simple picture into an eye grabbing story with just a few words. Just check out the next one down below to see what I mean.

Making My First Meme

I was nervous trying to figure out what image I was going to use to make my meme. I knew I had to take something and try to relate it to our CT 101 class in some way. Hopefully it came out alright and it makes somebody laugh!

 

 

 

Hey Y’all I’m Breanna but y’all can call me Bree because I just prefer to be called that . I’m a Psychology major and I took this class because I needed an elective for my major. I’m not going to lie at first I thought this was going to be a speech type of class and as much as I love talking and stuff I’m not really a fan of presenting because I always get nervous whether it’s virtual or in person so at first my reaction was like…

But once Professor Seslow explained the class and what’s expected I’m like… Wait this is amazing. No tests, speeches , papers. Just vibes and creativity . I love to see it

I’m so interested in learning more about digital storytelling and I’m glad that this is a freewill laid back class that pushes my creativity and also allows me to use one of the things I love very much which is memes. As a big Tumblr and Twitter feen this is definitely fulfilling and combining two of my favorite things. Thanks Professor Seslow. You did that

My internet happiness is google. Hello as a college student google has been blessing me the past four years of my college career.

My internet happiness is also Twitter. Twitter can make me laugh, cry , and learn more than I’ve ever learned in school sometimes.

What are memes?

One of the first things anyone with access to the internet discover on their journey of surfing the web are these funny pictures with subtitles on them. What are these hilarious pictures called? These memes have been on the internet for what seems as  long as our grandparents have been around!

These memes are usually pictures or videos with funny context and posted online to make others laugh and can be about pretty much anything you can think of. But the question is, are these memes considered art? Do these memes that people use to express their selves fall under art?

In the article, The Rise of Memes as an Art Form by Alice Oh, Kash Jordan who is a LA based rapper has curated two exhibitions featuring memes. “Kash considers memes to be a form of pop art and draws a parallel to Andy Warhol’s work, which often involved appropriating images from pop culture, not unlike the way memes are created today.” Memes often use a lot of modern pop culture to convey the message of the picture.

Memes are definitely art.

The definition of art is different for everyone and that’s why memes being art is such a debated topic. For me, art is a way to express yourself or an idea through various creative activities or medias. Memes are a part of internet culture where anyone with internet access can convey an idea just by simply putting a funny picture with some subtitle. Although memes are being criticized for being called art in a few years I’m sure it would be more widely accepted for art.

When we think of the word “MEME” we think of funny reactions images/videos/text of someone or something with hilarious captions that circulate through social media creating a trend. According to the Wikipedia definition: “A meme (/ˈmiːm/ meem)is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads from person to person within a culture” So what exactly is a meme?  How did it all start? In fact, did you know that the word “meme” is actually older than the internet?

Well…… technically yeah. The birth of the internet was in the 1980s (January 1, 1983, to be precise) while the word meme was found in the 1970s. The term “meme” was first coined by the British biologist/ethologist named Richard Dawkins in 1976 in his book called “The Selfish Gene” mused about how ideas influence human evolutions.

In this book, Dawkins took the greek word mimeme meaning  ‘something which is imitated’ and shortened it to “meme”, a monosyllable that can rhyme with “gene”;  as an attempt of expressing the way cultural information spreads within a cultural environment. Therefore, he used the term meme as a cultural equivalent of a gene. He even used a virus as an analogy to describe and define the word meme. To him, memes are a product of culture.

Here is an extract from the book  The Selfish Gene:

oops…not this one…. the extract is below.

“The new soup is the soup of human culture. We need a name for the new replicator, a noun that conveys the idea of a unit of cultural transmission, or a unit of imitation. ‘Mimeme’ comes from a suitable Greek root, but I want a monosyllable that sounds a bit like ‘gene’. I hope my classicist friends will forgive me if I abbreviate ‘mimeme’ to meme. If it is any consolation, it could alternatively be thought of as being related to ‘memory’, or to the French word meme. It should be pronounced to rhyme with ‘cream’.”

What does it all meme?…..

In simple words, we all know “genes” are replicators that carry information about our traits as hereditary. Dawkins wanted to get away from people thinking about genes all the time. So he brings in the idea of a second replicator. Now if we look around, we carry various cultures along with us which is a form of information that we copy from person to person by imitation, by language, by talking, by telling stories, by doing things, so on and so forth. This is information copied with a varied selection, this is a design process going on similar to genes. He wanted a name for this new replicator and ended up with the name “meme”.

Later on, people started incorporating images into internet memes. Remember the Dancing Baby, that 3D rendering of a baby boogieing to a Swedish rock song? That’s one of the first image-based internet memes, which spread primarily through email chains and it came out in the year 1996.

Now back to our main question ‘Are memes art?’. If we look at the definition of art: Art is an application of human creativity that expresses one’s imaginations and ideas visually or orally. Well now if we compare it with meme we see that memes do the same exact thing that art has been doing for ages: bringing bright colorful images that expresses an idea and makes people think.  All definitions of art point towards the direction of human creativity. Art is about showing people how you see the world and so are memes. So why shouldn’t memes be considered art? Memes are universally relatable and trigger human emotions on various levels. They connect people, invoke emotions, make people laugh.  To be more specific it can fall under the category of Pop art culture which means using popular media styles to create art and simple comedy.

Finally, I just want to share the meme I created about CT101.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is a Meme…

The term MEME is usually associated with an image or video that portrays a particular concept or idea that is then usually spread through online social platforms.

Memes are a cultural shorthand that evolves with those who use them. Nobody can claim to know or understand every single meme that exists. There are simply toooooo many

Are Memes A R T ?!

Are you kidding me… did someone really ask that question?

YES

The answer is Yes.

Memes are a form of art. Why??? Because they are a form of expression. Just like this guy who might be a little angry.

Or let’s take a look at this next beautiful piece of …

Look at this artist creating amazing art.

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CT101

CAN YOU EXPLAIN ART?

To answer the question,” Are memes ART?”, we must first grasp what the word art means. A simple definition given by Jeannine Gliddon Owens in her article, “Memes as Art“, is that art is to express human truth. We use memes as a modern day method to share our thoughts in concise pieces of media. The only really difference between them and typical mainstream art types is that memes are based on the internet. Jeannine makes the observation that bringing memes into a gallery setting elevates the art into a space where it can be appreciated in a way comparable to that of a traditional art piece. As more and more memes gain attention while in the physical form, the more it will be recognized as true art.

THE NEXT MONA LISA IS A MEME!

Memes are one of the best new tools for communication because they allow ideas to be shared solely though pictures and text. This allows communication between people from all different walks of life because all it takes to understand a meme is context. The feelings gained from a meme are almost instantaneous because we have witness or felt the same feelings that are shown in the picture or gif. At the same time, memes can be filled with depth and can be deep dived and explained the same of traditional media can. We as a culture need to embrace memes and hold them to the same standards as high class art so that one day it may be treated as such.

OH, WE MEMEING NOW!!!!

I have never made a meme online previous to this assignment, but one of my friends has made hundreds of memes that he uses everyday. Although most are inappropriate, all are pretty funny and unique ideas. I had fun thinking outside the box and making a few memes that I will definitely use in the future.