Vine Wood | Dragon Heartstring

What is art?

I developed my interpretation of the definition of “art” in my Art History classes. Art History is a unique way of studying the world through the works people have produced through for millennia- from paintings to jewelry and architecture and so forth - but in order to study Art History one needs to develop an understanding of what art actually is. I wonder if in distant decades memes like the LOLcat, Over 9,000, and the Rickroll will show up in Art History textbooks and our amused descendants will laugh at our ridiculous modes of expression. 

Personally, I think any kind of expression is art — anything that appeals to at least one of our senses. Anyone can create art, although that doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone creates “good” art (even the term “good” art is somewhat ambiguous). Art doesn’t have to require weeks, months, or years spent sculpting or painting. It could be as simple as creatively juxtaposing a written expression with an image or soundbyte. LOLcats and other memes go beyond the art of captioning — they incorporate words directly in the image in order to convey meaning, usually a particular emotion or belief. I wouldn’t necessarily place Internet memes on a pedestal with the classics, but they are definitely a widely used form of visual expression spread rapidly via the Internet and social networks. In the age of the Internet, this kind of creative work cannot be ignored. 

newshour:

Are LOLCats and Internet Memes Art?