#I made this in 15 minutes in imgflip

[kiban]

In honor of the Christmas season, I have created something terrible.

Behold: Jonny J’susse

[dankusner]

Early meme adopters might recognize Gustave Courbet’s supercharged self-portrait The Desperate Man (1843-45) from the rounds it made on Facebook circa the early 2010s, just before viral media grew into a full-fledged meme movement.

Although the Desperate Man meme experienced somewhat of a renaissance amidst pandemic-era anxieties, it has yet to take off in the same manner as peers of the same age, like Grumpy Cat and Doge.

But, there are layers of drama behind The Desperate Man.

The meme that arose from Courbet’s youthful visage may yet have another 15 minutes of life after all.

Long before actor Peter Adam Rebadomia reenacted the artwork, or an Instagram comedian photoshopped Timothée Chalamet in Courbet’s place, those familiar with the Desperate Man meme format will recall that the painting was available on early image generators like Imgflip.

There, meme-makers can still access Courbet’s dramatically lit, vexed face—crowned with hair-wringing hands—and add their own text atop.

The meme’s captions thus far typically interpret the artwork’s tenor as one of terror, describing contempoirary problems like forgetting your cell phone or leaving the iron on.

In Spring 2020, one student made a widely circulated edition of the Desperate Man meme around the prospect of missing a Zoom appointment.

Florida State University dispersed her work across social media as part of an an ongoing art meme series.

Courbet began painting The Desperate Man at age 24, after a string of rejections from the Paris Salon left him questioning Romanticism.

The work participates in the “expressive head” tradition, an academic exercise from the 17th century where an artist envisions themself as a mad genius.

Reflecting on the practice, artist once said ”How I was made to suffer despair in my youth!” and the work itself is evidence of how the eventual social realist artist was often at odds with himself.

It also somewhat satirizes the Romantic mindset’s emotional frenzy.

While Courbet himself was said to have loved this self portrait so much that he traveled with it, the original work of oil on canvas disappeared in 1978, following a Courbet retrospective at the Royal Academy.

In 2006, London’s National Gallery organized “Rebels and Martyrs,” an exhibition exploring self-portraits by tortured art superstars like Vincent Van Gogh and Eugene Delacroix.

One week before the show opened, The Guardian reported, an art advisor from BNP Paribas contacted curator Lois Oliver alleging “a client had seen publicity for the exhibition and wanted to offer a painting as a loan.”

That painting turned out to be Courbet’s fabled self-portrait.

Why does The Desperate Man repeatedly resonate with masses to this day? For some, the work is a compelling symbol of madness. For others, it perfectly embodies male self importance. A few viewers even note that Courbet bears a striking resemblance to Johnny Depp. The work featured in a TikTok trend that made rounds last year, based on a UQuiz telling users whether they’re a soldier, poet, or king. Poets were greeted with Courbet’s timeless visage, proving the staying power of the famed artwork.

[pianolexcat]

Is it even a picture of sophomore me feeling confident if I'm not resting my left arm on my leg ???

[ultrahellodear-blog]

Odio on Writing

By Lamson, Nicole.

Here's a hint about what will you expect on this, I hate writing. Period.

I don't 100% despise it but I don't see it as my “genre" in life, a facet of my hobbies or even a thing on my hand.

I'm a person whose mouth is like a blooming flower, opening to see what the world expect me to be. Speaking, specifically giving speeches like persuasive, informative or even argumentative essays is what my body really wanted.

But I know these questions are roaming around your head…

How come she loves speaking if she hates writing? How can she deliver a speech if there is no manuscript to read?

It all started in 8th grade, our topic is all about the culture and traditions of Egypt and Africa wherein we are assigned to choose one country to be our topic in our persuasive speech. I choose Egypt at that very moment yet nothing struck my mind on what words or content to include. I saw my classmate’s draft that they already wrote and finished their whole speech. I was pressured due to my English teacher giving plus points to whoever finish or started the body of their speech and me? I didn’t get any because my paper is really empty.

After five long days, the day of the delivery of speeches has come and I didn’t expect that I left my envelope that contains the manuscript of my speech, which I made for three days with no leisure, at home. I was panicking and thinking I might get a zero on our performance task. So I came to my teacher and explained why all this karma is happening to me. She gave me a consideration to pass my manuscript the next day but I should still perform in front of the class, without any doubt I walk towards our podium and the next is history.

Another is when I was on 10th grade, our English teacher grouped us consisting of 4 members and tasked 2 members of the group to deliver a speech while the other 2 are the “speech writer / make-up artist”. So, I volunteer myself as one of the speaker and let my other group members decide about the topics that wants to be delivered or expressed.

The most awaited day has come, the whole class is so nervous due the frightening stare of our teacher in the room. “Number 15, you are up” announced by my classmate, I really don’t know what to expect but the last thing I remember is that I delivered my speech very well in front of 50 people, clapping their hands like there is no tomorrow.

Grade 11 persuasive speech is an unforgettable moment for me because I was considered one of the best speakers in class. But before obtaining that title, writing my speech which tackles the words “po” and “opo” is not easy as it seems. The guideline tells us that it our speech should be longer than three minutes but shorter than 5 minutes yet I’m not satisfied by my topic.

Our oral communication teacher gave his other sphere time for us to do our speeches so that he can monitor and check what we’re writing. For the last day of our writing, I came back and forth to my teacher for at least 3 times already and he is still not approved by my speech conclusion. Then for the last time, my teacher already gave me the answer to what should I write as my ending.

“Who wants to be on day 2? Remember if you’re on the second day, my standards are much higher compared to those who are having their speech on the first day.” I’m a bit anxious about the little speech my teacher gave, the slot for the first day is already full and I have no choice but to get the 9th slot for the second day.

That “second day” came, I know that I prepared myself for a battle between me vs. my teachers standards. After the 8th speaker delivers his speech, it’s my turn now and there is not turning back.

After 5 long minutes of repeating the words “po” and “opo”, my speech came to an end. The laughter, smiles and screams of my classmates became a melody to my ear. When my teacher called me about my grade, he congratulated me being one of the best and he might let us perform to his other classes which made me very happy.

See, writing puts me in trouble but in some point in time it helps me to be in success.

But here are the real reasons why I really hate writing:

1.      I’m not grammar wise.

2.      I prefer memorization rather than holding a pen.

3.      I’m not that creative and imaginative like how a writer should be.

Anything that includes grammar is something that makes my body panic especially when I need to use the words ‘has’ and ‘have’ or  ‘in’ or ‘on’ because I  don’t know the difference between the two and when to use it. I’m also not creative and imaginative due to the fact that I like expressing my emotions literally and straight to the point.

This school year 2019 – 2020 is the only year where I was exposed to writing. Having 2 subjects that are more likely identical to each other which number one requirement is to write almost drives me insane.

But I saw how important writing is due to those two subjects. They gave us activities which help me opened my mind to the real world and how imaginative I can be.

I saw a paper and a pen as my companion whenever I’m writing my draft.

Last month, our teacher requires us to create our very own short story which I really enjoyed the most because she gave us a free will about our topic and the way we wrote the final paper. I also got a high score and my teacher mentioned that my story is a roller coaster from start to finish.

I was really overwhelmed about her comment which gave a motivation to ‘love’ writing.

I’m on the process of loving it, maybe at least 30%.

I know I repeatedly wrote writing for a thousand times but I just really wanted to say thank you because the memories which I might forget will always be back through reading.

Photo by Imgflip