I’m on the fence when it comes to determining if memes should be considered art or not. It’s hard to write about something that you’re not that familiar with (obviously everybody knows what memes are but I personally never use them) and that’s where the research comes in:

The term art encompasses diverse media such as painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, decorative arts, photography, and installation.            – Britannica.com

Art is an expression of our thoughts, emotions, intuitions, and desires, but it is even more personal than that: it’s about sharing the way we experience the world, which for many is an extension of personality.                – philosophynow.org

Based on these definitions, one would conclude that memes should be categorized as art because they are an expression of thoughts and emotions. However, I still feel as though there’s a disservice being done to those who dedicate so much time and effort into perfecting their craft, to create well thought out and intricate pieces compared to anyone who can create a meme in less than five minutes.

The main reason I’m on the opposing side of this argument is because “plugging text and an image copied from a search browser clearly requires such minimal creativity, skill, and imagination”. The reality of it is that all you need is a photo and a few words to create a meme, there’s no hard work or ‘rare talent’ that goes into making them.

While I may disagree that memes are art, I do believe they are an amazing form of media and communication. It’s interesting how all you have to do is send a meme and the recipient can deduce how you feel about a subject. I think the relatability and simplicity of memes is what makes them so popular, of course for some memes you’d need to recognize the cultural references to understand but for most you can look at them and immediately be able to tell what they represent.

The article Are Memes The Pop Culture Art of Our Era? mentions that,“memes can blur the line between content and art, but certain pieces that begin as art can also take on the qualities of a meme.” I definitely think there is some overlap which causes there to be conflict when deciding what is art and what is not. Below is a compilation of many great art pieces that have been incorporated into memes:

It’d be crazy for me to say that memes can’t be used for storytelling after I literally just used memes throughout to explain this post. However, in my opinion, memes are just a method of self-expression and I think this solely because I can’t come up with a reason or justification for them being anything more (feel free to give me a reason).

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