Artistry is totally collaborative, especially in the modern age of the Internet. With the ability to easily share, download, and edit from almost any computer, tablet, or smartphone, how do you track the "original" artist? So much of what we have been exposed to in this time has been copied or redesigned in some way, that I think it's safe to say that original thinkers are very difficult to come by. Not that this is a bad thing, far from it. Collaboration can help our creativity in ways that couldn't be expanded if we were left by ourselves to make something new. For example, I was greatly influenced comedically through my classmates' photos and captions. Putting words to photos in a way that was funny to me helped me to think outside of the typical meme: a stupid picture with a quick one-liner. My "found contributions" were used in the photo of the skeleton at the bottom-right, which used words that I shared, which I heard in a
song by Marilyn Manson.
I'd say the only way to maintain originality in memes is in your ability to "put the pieces together." That is, you're using your own logic to put the text to picture. The critical thinking seems to be the main original content in many art forms today. We see it in movies, music, and games: the
same basic story or premise, with a few bits here and there to "make it new" or differentiate it from the rest. In this way, creativity is "maintained" through familiarity. Is this still creative, though? That may be for future scholars to decide.
Artistry is totally collaborative, especially in the modern age of the Internet. With the ability to easily share, download, and edit from almost any computer, tablet, or smartphone, how do you track the "original" artist? So much of what we have been exposed to in this time has been copied or redesigned in some way, that I think it's safe to say that original thinkers are very difficult to come by. Not that this is a bad thing, far from it. Collaboration can help our creativity in ways that couldn't be expanded if we were left by ourselves to make something new. For example, I was greatly influenced comedically through my classmates' photos and captions. Putting words to photos in a way that was funny to me helped me to think outside of the typical meme: a stupid picture with a quick one-liner. My "found contributions" were used in the photo of the skeleton at the bottom-right, which used words that I shared, which I heard in a song by Marilyn Manson.
I'd say the only way to maintain originality in memes is in your ability to "put the pieces together." That is, you're using your own logic to put the text to picture. The critical thinking seems to be the main original content in many art forms today. We see it in movies, music, and games: the same basic story or premise, with a few bits here and there to "make it new" or differentiate it from the rest. In this way, creativity is "maintained" through familiarity. Is this still creative, though? That may be for future scholars to decide.
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