10 Iconic Artworks From This Year’s Reddit’s r/Place
Edition #22 - Here’s your challenge — See if you can find more
Hey friends,
Exciting news. I launched my first e-book, Beyond Beautiful - 25 Paintings You Should Not Miss. You can download it for free.
Coming to this week’s edition, I have a fun challenge for you. So brace yourself, and let’s go.
10 Iconic Artworks From This Year’s Reddit’s r/Place
Reddit relaunched its subreddit r/place this April Fool’s 2022. The first came out in 2017.
Now, if you’re clueless about what this was, continue reading.
This was an exceptionally thought-out internet engagement and community-building exercise amongst Redditors, inspired by “The Million Dollar Homepage,” launched in 2005.
The users were allotted a total of 1 million pixels to be used on a blank canvas and fill a 1000*1000 grid with fancy, creative, and meaningful art projects.
Each user could place a single pixel anywhere on the canvas, choosing the color from the color palette of 24 different shades. The next pixel was assigned to the same user only after a cooling period of 5 minutes.
And goodness gracious, this turned out to be an internet pixel war.
Reddit, YouTube, and Twitch communities streamed live to discuss how to construct and destroy each other’s formations and patterns.
This internet war lasted for 3 days (1st to 4th April 2022), engaging more than a million users.
Well, it might shock you or make you laugh out loud.
After a giant pixel image consisting of a plethora of historical events, paintings, internet memes, and gaming characters, Reddit left users with just one color to use in the final hours — white.
The result? A giant blank white canvas.
As an art aficionado, I revisited the last snapshot before the canvas blanked out.
It would be an understatement to say that the image blew my mind. I was left puzzled, and extremely curious.
Curtsey to all creative fellas who contributed to this event!
Here’s the list of 10 artworks I identified from this massive pixel canvas.
[Note — Save this high-resolution image to your personal computer and zoom in to notice what I saw. The left is the snipped picture from the giant pixel, and the right is the original artwork.]
1. Creation of Adam by Michelangelo
The picture sums it all up. The first touch between God and Adam.
And here comes a slice of pizza dropping from Adam’s hand with the backdrop of the Italian flag.
Indeed the best meme of the year.
2. Vitruvian Man by Leonardo da Vinci
The ideal proportionate body of The Vitruvian Man is sandwiched between the Leaning Tower of Pisa and The Vatican. Props to the Italians!
3. The Girl with the Pearl Earring by Johannes Vermeer
With the backdrop of the Netherland’s flag, the “Mona Lisa of the North” had to make it to the giant pixel. A composition that has captivated everyone for centuries.
4. The Scream by Edvard Munch
Depression + Anxiety X Madness = Genius? This was Edvard Munch’s way of expressing his anxiety.
But who is the screamed guy sandwiched between? I couldn’t recognize them. Let me know in the comments.
5. The Night Watch by Rembrandt
Last night, I jumped out of my chair when I identified this one.
Rembrandt’s intricate visual treat with an array of characters.
And Redditors pulled it so well with their sheer collaborative effort. I have goosebumps as I write this.
6. The Great Wave off Kanagawa by Hokusai
Hokusai’s magnum opus, The Great Wave off Kanagawa, shows an enormous wave threatening three boats off the coast, and Mount Fuji rises in the background.
7. The Starry Night by Van Gogh
Van Gogh sips a cup of coffee and admires his most recognized painting, The Starry Night, in the background. All in the parallel universe.
What do you think?
8. Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
If there’s one painting not missed in memes or art collections and discussions, it is this painting.
The archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance — The Mona Lisa.
9. Wanderer above the Sea of Fog by Caspar David Friedrich
This painting depicts a man standing upon a rocky precipice with his back to the viewer. He is gazing at a landscape covered with a thick sea of fog, contemplating his life.
10. The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
Even though other Redditors attacked the image multiple times, this made it to the final snapshot.
If you wish to read my ramblings on The Last Supper’s hidden meaning, here’s what I wrote — Does ‘The Last Supper’ Have a Hidden Meaning?
Here’s your challenge. Save this high-resolution giant pixel image to your personal computer and zoom in.
Post famous events/memes/paintings/sculptures/gaming characters in the comments section.
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Fascinating. There's so many things that exist in the world and millions know about them but I've never heard of them! Congrats on the eBook!