No Gingers Were Harmed
When Art becomes Meme, Allegations Abound.
Where do ideas even come from?
Bob Dylan described songs as if they were floating in the ether ready to be collected by the musician or even gifted by ghosts. Will Self similarly spoke of the artist’s intermediary role as a priest, bringing universal truths into the here and now. Western art is founded on that vibe too. The book of Genesis shows humans not as creators ex nihilo, nor, God forbid, as content creators, but as curators of the stuff already floating around out there.
We may happen upon ideas, but they come to us from somewhere else, and when we re-release them they take on a life of their own. As I discovered afresh recently when my art became a meme. I decided to hunt down the guy responsible.
All about meme
The term meme was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, although I like to think the idea originated in a primordial fish and eventually made its way to Dawkins’ brain. I read his famous book on a train for my Oxford interview to read biology (his subject) at New College (his college). I was rejected, but at least I did learn about memes.
Memes, Dawkins theorises, are non-genetic packages of information that are transmitted across generations. When successful, they attach to brains with such vigour that they can replicate and spread like viruses of the mind.
In the Internet age, if your work becomes a meme, it’s a sign that your idea has traction, but there’s a risk that the story mutates and is no longer yours. But was it ever?
Last week, a screenshot of my work appeared on the legendary social media account No Context Brits. A friend messaged me: “You have made it at last!” with a similar screenshot from @councilestatelad.
The original Bored Panda headline was begging for a response: “Photographer has been capturing gingers around the world for 7 years and says it’s not just about hair”.
The top reply, which had pushed my work into memehood?
Are they going to let them go? 7 years is a long time to capture anyone, even gingers.
Don’t read the comments
I laughed out loud the first time I saw it. The meme’d version blurred the commenter’s name, so I went digging to thank them. Very quickly, I found the guy’s name and clicked on his Facebook profile. He worked in tech and clearly knew about privacy settings: I couldn’t see anything bar his face. I kept searching. Instagram was the same, but LinkedIn offered a way through. I signed up for the £21-a-month premium service just to contact him.
“Hello Sean, did you know you created a meme?”
Ten minutes later he pinged back:
S: Oh no 😬
I admired his use of emojis on LinkedIn so pressed on.
K: Did you know you had such an impact on the world?
S: I certainly did not think I had that kind of impact, especially in a comment section.
Sean’s replies are worth sharing because they show how ideas have a life of their own.
S: For me – it quickly highlighted how connected the platforms are, and how fast something that resonates with people spreads . . . It was the first time I understood that the content posted is no longer truly your own.
I asked about his motivation to post. Why bother calling out the click-bait?
S: When I do decide to comment on a post, I generally try to find a way to be positive, humorous and constructive. Posting is great but I think the comment sections are where true social media actually exists. That feels especially true on Threads currently.
I wanted to know if he actually knew any Gingers. Who did he have in mind when he wrote?
S: I don’t have family but I do have a couple friends who are!
I think for millennials, there’s a specific humor around gingers that is owed to an episode of South Park.
I think the majority of my friends and family do not pay attention to what I post online, which may or may not be by design.
As our chat ended we wished one another a good weekend. Social media had connected two randoms, carried along by bigger ideas. I had a new collaborator in Kansas City! I have already captured Gingers from Kansas City, or rather liberated them; as I have written before, photography liberates moments for all time.
Disclaimer
For the avoidance of doubt and to repeat the response I added to the thousands of comments on the post: