Art has been an integral part of humanity for thousands of years. It’s because it’s not just a form of entertainment, it’s a vital part of human well-being. It enhances brain function – it has an impact on brain wave patterns, emotions, and the nervous system, and can raise serotonin levels. So, it can be said that it forms and influences the way people view and experience the world.
Knowing that art is so important to us, we should also know how to describe what it is. Encyclopedia Britannica defines it as “a visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination.” Well, to put it a tad simpler, it’s anything that people create to express their emotions. It can be in any form, done by any material.
Even digitally. In fact, there’s a whole art genre called digital art – pieces made using software, computers, or other electronic devices. There are debates about whether digital pieces can be called art, but it depends on how one understands the term. If we’re going by the definition we presented before – a visual or experiential object people create to express themselves – digital art fits it perfectly.
Interestingly, memes can be viewed as pieces of digital art. To talk about them, Bored Panda reached out to Richard Lachman, associate professor at Ryerson University.
He said that one of the ways memes can be looked at is as a medium for the communication of ideas. These ideas can be various – from social, cultural, or political insights to personal or relatable jokes about daily life.
But it can be more than that. He pointed out: “Our use of images from TV, film, or popular culture serves not only as a shorthand for an idea but as a way of signaling our in-group membership.” Providing references to a certain social circle can help reach others who belong to it.
As an example, we can take memes related to mental health. R. Lachman said: “Taking something seriously is far more risky than making a joke about it, and memes allow us that safe form of commentary without risk.” So, people might be way more comfortable expressing their thoughts and feelings about their struggles through jokes.
When these memes are shared, they reach others, who relate to them, as they belong to the same social group, fulfilling the meme's work as a communication form.
Our interviewee pointed out that such connection-building can be beneficial for people: “The affinity nature of in-joke sharing that is part of meme culture can be helpful – perhaps not in the sharing of the meme itself, but rather, in the community or relationships that are part of a conversation online.”
Besides being a communication channel, memes can also be viewed as an art form, as we said earlier. Remember, R. Lachman said that memes can be used to spread ideas, and as we acknowledged before, art does that too.
We should recognize that the most valuable art is created originally, while memes are a form of imitation – using the same template and the same form to express different ideas. Some say this way, memes become art pieces collectively created by internet users. After all, even conventional art can be created by several authors.
Plus, even though our interviewee said that nowadays creating memes is easy for anyone due to widespread programs like Photoshop and so on, a valuable meme still requires some creativity and knowledge to come up with. Scribbling some nonsense on an image won’t be funny or relatable.
Not only can memes be an art form, but they can also use art for their creations. Plenty of good examples of this can be found on the Instagram page called “Medieval Healer.” Granted, not every image there is a meme; some are simply thoughts written over vintage pictures. Still, quite a few could be considered memes connected to the topics of the images.
This list is filled with images from this page because sometimes there’s nothing better to brighten someone’s day than a relatable joke with a cute vintage art picture. So, enjoy, and don’t forget to upvote the ones you like the best!
