this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2026
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Antique Memes Roadshow

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Giving you the backstory and appraisals of vintage memes!

Submissions should be vintage memes or commentary about vintage memes. Commenters are advised to appraise the internet value and provenance meme antiquities.

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submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by NichEherVielleicht@feddit.org to c/antiquememesroadshow@lemmy.world
 
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[–] UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world 54 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I think you're going for Pollock

or perhaps a variation on Mondrian

a la Dana Gordon

Picasso's Cubism tended to actually reveal discernible figures - typically people, but also household items - within the abstractions.

Just thought I'd share

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 11 points 3 months ago

excellent comment, you fucking nerd

[–] logicbomb@lemmy.world 20 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

I'm reminded of this possibly apocryphal story about Picasso:

[A woman] approached Picasso in a restaurant, asked him to scribble something on a napkin, and said she would be happy to pay whatever he felt it was worth. Picasso complied and then said, “That will be $10,000.”

“But you did that in thirty seconds,” the astonished woman replied.

“No,” Picasso said. “It has taken me forty years to do that.”

To me, this story is about the paradox of mastering a craft. If a person has spent decades mastering an art or a craft, then when an amateur sees them working, it looks like it's trivial. The amateur thinks, "Anybody could do that. I could do that, no problem. It's easy." Of course, it only looks easy because it's the master doing it.

[–] stoy@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 months ago

Nah, that story is about fame, the story about mastering a craft is usually similar to this:

"A man takes his car to a mechanic, he explains that it makes a terrible rattle, and he can't figure it out.

The mechanic opens the bonnet, and tells the man to start the engine, the man does and the mechanic hears the rattle, and without a word, takes out a screwdriver, and quickly tightens a loose screw.

The mechanic tells the man, that will be $250 please.

The man tells the mechanic that he is not paying $250 to just have a screw tightened.

The mechanic, agrees and shows the man a bill with a breakdown of costs:

$249 - knowing which screw to tighten.
$1 - physical labour

The man pays."


To me, looking at the art world, it seems like in most modern art, the art is secondary to how well the artist manages to talk about it.

[–] IcedRaktajino@startrek.website 14 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Would love to bring these back instead of the wojack guy.

[–] janus2@lemmy.zip 4 points 3 months ago

be the change you want to see
(maybe it makes me old but i love when i see a new rage comic, especially when the subject is better expressed by the old ragies than by wojaks)

[–] Atherel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 13 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I remember doing this and PC were so slow you could see the collor being filled slowly. Now I feel old :-/

[–] InFerNo@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 months ago

Back when Paint still had the spray paint tool

[–] stelelor@lemmy.ca 4 points 3 months ago

Pepperidge farm remembers.

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

With my advanced millennial age WinXP makes this too modern to relate :/.

[–] stelelor@lemmy.ca 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I want you to know that I spent about five minutes looking at this through a flood of memories and emotions. Thank you for posting this ancient relic.

[–] Evil_Shrubbery@thelemmy.club 3 points 3 months ago

I still remember how those mouse clicks & movement felt.

[–] obinice@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago

Taking your pencil for a walk, MS Paint style! :-D

[–] bjoern_tantau@swg-empire.de 5 points 3 months ago

The curve tool on the old paint, the one limited to 16 colors or so, was the best.

[–] slazer2au@lemmy.world 5 points 3 months ago

Still better then some modern art.

[–] Daft_ish@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 months ago

Great composition. Would hang on wall.

[–] whimsy@lemmy.zip 3 points 3 months ago

The real fun begins when you select that rectangle and shift drag it around