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The viral painting trend taking over social media

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London, UK
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We’ve seen bizarre TikTok dancing trends and running challenges, but the wackiest of all might just be the renaissance painting recreation trend.

The invention of the internet has allowed us to reinterpret all manners of older media in fresh ways. Over the years, the explosion of meme culture has meant older films, paintings, and novels have been continuously repurposed for humour, with subreddits such as r/trippinthroughtime and r/accidentalrenaissance being perfect examples.

This seemingly never ending lockdown is giving many of us the perfect excuse to flex creative skills that may seldom be used otherwise. Take this viral painting trend that’s been all over Reddit, Instagram, and Twitter recently, which involves using household objects to recreate iconic artwork from centuries past.

At the end of March, Getty Museum tweeted the challenge to recreate a famous painting in any way possible, kicking off the trend that’s since spread across all social media platforms. Anything goes, too, whether it be toilet brushes or oddly arranged sofas. The weirder, the better – and there have been some truly impressive efforts.

We’ve even given it a go here at the Thred office, though no word on which of ours is the best. I’d pick Milo’s personally, for sheer commitment to the facial expressions alone.

If you’ve tried to do some homemade baking with all this free time and its gone south, then fear not. You can always use your spoiled food products as headwear, as demonstrated below by Twitter user Carolinne.

Elsewhere, Instagram users have shown that toilet roll can be a great substitute for giant wig hair pieces for that ultimate quarantine look. I might start a lockdown clothing line at this rate.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B99G0vOg4Xp/?utm_source=ig_embed

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-AuyMzgChW/?utm_source=ig_embed

Fruit and veg can also serve as a perfect recreation of distorted faces, who knew? This one uses the inside of a pepper to duplicate the iconic scream face.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-HRT_XgH-q/?utm_source=ig_embed

If you lack small children to get involved in your insane photo recreations, you can substitute them for pets. Dogs will always be up for a pose, probably… don’t quote me on that though.

This pug has fully committed to the part and I am here for it.

If this challenge proves anything, it’s that human beings are creative creatures that can turn boredom into any exercise in pointless productivity.

Editor In Chief London, UK

I’m Charlie (He/Him), the Editor In Chief at Thred. I studied English at the University of Birmingham and as a music and gaming enthusiast, I’m a nerd for pop culture. You can find me curating playlists, designing article headline images, and sipping cider on a Thursday. Follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn and drop me some ideas/feedback via email.

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