Meme:

a concept for discussion of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena as defined by Richard Dawkins. Memes spread through the behavior that they generate in their hosts. A meme can be modified through replication. An internet meme is a concept that spreads rapidly from person to person via the internet.

Lauren Kaelin

Kaelin paints stills from reproducible, shareable, and recognizable internet videos and images. They challenge the theories of Walter Benjamin who, in a popular essay The Work of Art in an Age of Mechanical Reproduction, argued that a work of art lost its true value when reproduced. Her art straddles the border of fine art and internet virality.

Eva and Franco Mattes

This sculptural work is a copy of a cat internet meme with the caption "Don't Ask" below the image. The fact that this was made for a gallery show in which the couple imitated the work of another artist provides a double entendre to the concept of meme.

Francis Alys

Alys works from reproductions with commercial sign painters. As the imitative process continues, it asks questions about artists' relationships with painting and authorship. An infinite potential is implied, with the concept of memes reproducing and multiplying throughout the process.

Fashion Trends

It's hard to ignore fashion trends when researching reproduction through imitation in art. These Jeffrey Campbell shoes are semi-affordable designer knockoffs, which in turn are imitated for an even more affordable price. Other imitations in fashion follow seasonal trends that can be grouped and divided into categories like Typography and Slogans.

Mathew Zefeldt

Zefeldt uses clip-art style copy and pasting in his artwork with techniques reminiscent of MS Paint. His paintings invite viewers to consider the crisis of individuality in an era of instantaneous image sharing and replication. Like the other artists in this category, Zefeldt's time and skill put into his pieces juxtapose the effortless ability to share an image with a single click of a button.