A picture says a thousand words, but how about an emoticon?
In an age of instant messaging, language has taken some surprising twists and turns. Abbreviated forms and phonetic spelling is now embedded in digital communication as an effective way of keeping up with a world of SMS and real-time chat. The faster, the easier, the better.
Emoticons are an extension of this convenience, with icons often replacing text to describe a range of experiences and emotions with greater ease. One click of a smiley face and a dollar symbol may tell the world that you got the job. A broken heart and an ice-cream icon could reveal the shattering news that you’re suddenly single.
The repeated use of icons within these limited emoticon banks has made each one instantly recognisable. Combine this familiarity with their widespread accessibility (and more than a few degrees of boredom), and a surprising thing is happening. Emoticons are becoming art.
The build-up was gradual. Clever combinations of emoticons led to more intricate and extensive patterns being made, with creators challenged to design something unique from the finite emoticon palette. Some of the more inventive works are then uploaded onto social media galleries or lifted from their original platforms and integrated into digital media projects.
Emoticons are also being used to subvert ‘high’ art. The popular Tumblr page, Emojinal Art Gallery, is filled with emoticon-altered images of classical painted works, with a tongue-in-cheek approach.
Whether the emoticon art scene grows into something serious or simply becomes a market for developers to sell visual art apps to, such as the emoticon picture-collage app Emojify, is anyone’s guess. For now, it remains one more curiosity in the landscape of our digital age.
Here are some of the best Emojinal Art Gallery images created by bloggers.
A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte – Georges Pierre Seurat
Submitted by lolroflha
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Nicolaes Tulp – Rembrandt
Submitted by anonymous
The False Mirror – Renee Magritte
Submitted by SquidElephant
Young Lady in a Boat – James Tissot
Submitted by anonymous
A Friend in Need – CM Coolidge
Submitted by anonymous
(Pictured: Blogger SquidElephant’s version of ‘The False Mirror’ by Renee Magritte (cropped))
