If the patchwork is known as a couture technique, we can also find its use in many other fields. In fact, in so many other fields that we can ask ourselves if it’s not a trend topic of our society. Of course, we first think about cooking. Fusion cuisine, as patchwork mixes tissues from different origins, combines element of different gastronomies. Same principle with the fusion music : there are nowadays so many delightful examples of bands melting two ore more musical origins.
Creating new by mixing existing stuff… maybe patchworking is the key of our future society. Let’s reuse, combine, recycle, mix, tinker, re-invente! And the craziest thing is that this principle is used as far as in humour! Have you heard about “memes” ? If the word doesn’t ring a bell, I invite you to watch the picture n°1-2-3 below.
A meme, by definition, would exist only by its repetition. By this, I don’t mean it is shared, although it is obviously linked. By this, I mean that a new meme joke is created by re-using and modifying an “old” one, repeating its pattern. Here is the difference between a simple funny picture and a meme: the massive reuse of the last one. A funny picture would become a meme only if it is massively used and customized. See the examples n°4-5-6-7 below. Internet 2.0 allowed the emergence of a new gender of collaborative hunour.
And the art of meme can go further in the patchworking : we reach the top of this art when two memes are melted into one. The idea is to mix two well known memes and get a brand new one. See exemple n°8-9 , n°10-11-12 and n°13-14-15 below. With a finite amount of material, an infinite amount of combination are possible. Make a patchwork out of patchworks…when two famous memes are meeting, we reach the amazing level of patchwork²!
Picture source: http://knowyourmeme.com/
