Before we do that, I want to take a moment to analyze the often undervalued impact of the meme making community. The entire subversive culture of flat earth memes is something worthy of attention. At its most fundamental level, meme making is the act of sharing creativity with others. Memes are shared freely and, most often, the creator of the piece does not put their moniker on it; beyond the initial post, nobody really knows who made the meme. Others can take the file and repost it however, wherever they like. They can add to it, manipulate it, or simply take the concept and make use of it for something new. There are no copyright rules or restrictions on how memes get distributed, altered or mimicked. It is a completely open source, give and take community.
Connecting with others via creative expression is an essential part of being human. The accessibility of making a meme removes the typical limitations found in many other art forms; and it is an art form. Anyone can produce a meme. Even if the visual presentation is crude—and sometimes that crudeness increases a meme's impact—it is all about how clever or unexpected the concept. Many of the best FEPE memes are those that make no attempt to present a polished design.
There is a thriving community of individuals producing flat earth memes. To suggest that there is no value in it because you do not care for memes or feel they somehow harm flat earth's legitimacy is to completely dismiss the thousands of people who have found a way to express their flat earth awareness to others. FEPE memes and flat earth memes in general are another dangling thread that a certain type of curious mind is unable to resist... and when they pull that thread it will inevitably lead them to flat earth research, to Dubay's 200 Proofs or ODD's Strangers Guide to Flat Earth. Memes appeal to a certain cross section of people... they have a place in the flat earth community and I tip my beak to all those churning out these odd, fascinating—often hilarious and sometimes alarming—memes.
And now... on to a sampling of Bea Flat's work. Be sure to hit her Twitter Page to see the full gallery of creations.
—Ty Gorton
You are right, memes can easily transfer new ideas.
ReplyDeleteYes, and instantaneously. When done right, the transfer of info is so fast the viewer doesn't really have a choice; the concept is in their brain whether they wanted it or not. PLUS, the whole philosophy of open source, copyright free creative sharing is really powerful.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it really is a game changer.
ReplyDeleteIf you want, have a look at https://postglobeawareness.wordpress.com/
It's a blog I started a few days ago.
(I am that anonymous commenter from before)
greets pga
Nice, I will check out the blog soon. My "day gig" is currently standing between me and flat earth.....
ReplyDeleteOh you mean your job? If so, yeah troubles my mind if I think about the time lost on my job, but luckily I work as a web developer. So I get enough time during the day for basic maintenance.
ReplyDeleteBea Flat's contributions are of excellent quality; creative as all get to boot. I'm in the crude department. I didn't even know how to make one until the day #FEPE was born! Love your blog Ty.
ReplyDelete