Can Memes help to develop one’s artistic creativity?
Image source: Anthony Adams Rubbing Hands
Image source:
Image source: https://imgflip.com/memegenerator/Drake-Hotline-Bling
Image source: 42. Math Lady / Confused Lady
Image source: 20. Arthur’s Fist
Image source: Daily Struggle / Two Buttons (original version)
Image source: Laughing Tom Cruise
Image source: Daily Struggle / Two Buttons (example of edited version)
https://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1962297-daily-struggle-two-buttons
Memes are considered an important part of Internet culture. Memes often touches hard-to-express or uncomfortable everyday truths to simple images or GIFs that anyone and everyone can enjoy.
A popular website 9GAG.com is a platform where people can upload their memes. In line with their slogan ‘Go Fun Yourself.’, people are having fun by uploading memes, rating and discussing posts of others. By responding with relatable memes or by writing comments, people have created a collaborated creative fun.
Creating own memes is only simple clicks away. Websites like Imageflip or Meme Generator provides sources of imageries and a tool for create-your-own-meme, and a website called Know Your Meme provides a handful of information around the origin, examples and references of the meme.
Availability of imageries from such websites give an advantage for anyone to express their creativity. Since not everyone can draw or paint to express their artistic creativity, it could be argued that memes have been contributed to a freedom of speech for everyone.
A format of meme that many people are familiar with is called ‘image macro’, and it is originated from 2000s [1]. It is made with background image with top and bottom text. While the background image sets the overall context of the meme, the captions add the personality of its context.
The essential component of memes can be considered as its agreeability of the imagery. Since the imagery sets the context of the meme, providing a common ground of understanding in the given image is important to set the overall information that a meme is trying to tell.
Drakeposting, as known as Drake Hotline Bling meme refers to the practice of posting reaction images from the music video of Drake, the Canadian hip hop artist’s 2015 hit single Hotline Bling [2]. The still shots of the music video has been widely used as a choice of a meme as the images simply represent well to the humorous expressions of inner feelings of everyday situations.
A strength of memes come from its adaptability of meanings in many situations of everyday life. In other words, anyone could understand the given imagery as it is often highly relatable to everyone’s life.
Whether the image is used alone or together with captions, memes stand as a standardised or generalised expression of certain situation that people could relate to.
Memes are also a humorous way of communicating with others. Relatability of the imagery means that an image could speak a thousand words. This quality of implication of meanings with a humorous approach makes memes an efficient medium of communication.
The exercise of choosing the image(s) and composing a simple caption could not only be considered as a practice of developing one’s artistic creativity, but also a practice of creative thinking.
A variety of composition styles in memes can also be explored. From a single vividly descriptive image to superimposed or overlapping format, a variety of styles involved in creation of memes are not only a powerful source of artistic creativity but also a source of humour that can simply be enjoyed.
The creativeness in memes is easily understood. A compact meaning that is presented in memes is agreeable and relatable, which makes memes not only a way to express creativity but also a simple and humorous way of communicating with others. This characteristic of creation-comprehension is what makes memes useful for developing creativity.