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Waxy.org is the sandbox of Andy Baio, a journalist/programmer living in Portland, Oregon. I'm the CTO of Kickstarter, created Upcoming.org, and some other stuff too.

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Meme Scenery

Posted May 26, 2009 (Updated May 27, 2009)

So I had this silly idea to isolate the backgrounds from famous Internet memes, removing all the subjects from every photo or video. I'm pretty happy with the results.

Like Jon Haddock's porn sans people, these photos are banal out of context. Only someone familiar with the original memes would sense something's amiss, like the set of a play waiting for the actors to stumble into history.

Can you name all 22 23? (Click any image for the answer.)

The following seven are by Drew Bell:

By tonyb:

By Alan Taylor:

By Dystopos:

By Jesse Burgheimer:

By Scott Helgeson:

80 Comments (Add Yours)

May 26, 2009
7:01 AM  
Jeremy Abbett wrote:

They feel so empty :/ Great idea!


May 26, 2009
7:04 AM  
chroni wrote:

This is gold. So great! So, so, empty.


May 26, 2009
7:14 AM  
DU wrote:

Wow, what a great idea. Kittens Inspired by Kittens is really creepy. WTF *is* that chair for?


May 26, 2009
7:31 AM  
Jazmeister wrote:

This is great. It's essentially just looking at the environments people choose to film as they sing daft songs. I've never seen that porn one either, and it's the same, almost worse. Of course, none of those are done in flash.

3rd to last: Ah, good. Safe to fap.


May 26, 2009
7:33 AM  
twix wrote:

is every funny video a meme nowadays?


May 26, 2009
7:36 AM  
david mccandless wrote:

Nice 'shopping bro


May 26, 2009
7:39 AM  
Andy Baio wrote:

I think the general rule is that a meme is defined by its ability to transmit virally and mutate into variations.


May 26, 2009
7:48 AM  
justin wrote:

For some reason, the Numa Numa one really sticks out here for some reason. Such an ordinary room with nothing special about it at all... but instantly recognizable.

This is awesome, thanks.


May 26, 2009
7:51 AM  
Philip Dhingra wrote:

Brilliant!


May 26, 2009
7:58 AM  
devolute wrote:

Initially I was pleased that I could guess them all correctly, but that happiness soon turned to sadness as I looked back on a wasted life...


May 26, 2009
8:01 AM  
Duncan wrote:

Ha! This is great. Nice collection!


May 26, 2009
8:33 AM  
Fubiz wrote:

Huge idea!


May 26, 2009
9:00 AM  
OwlBoy wrote:

I am sad I know many of these. (insert meme here that goes with my sadness)


May 26, 2009
9:08 AM  
Zack wrote:

Where is 'I like turtles'?


May 26, 2009
9:14 AM  
Mark wrote:

This is an extremely clever concept, and I'm glad to see it was executed just as well :)

Haha, I had a smile going down the list as I recognized each room/setting like an old friend. It would be like walking onto the empty set of a classic sitcom.


May 26, 2009
9:22 AM  
Pierce wrote:

The last one looks like the scene of a crime. A lot of them do, but the last one in particular.


May 26, 2009
9:38 AM  
Andy Baio wrote:

Pierce: You're not far off. They sexually abused that poor ottoman.


May 26, 2009
10:08 AM  
Ganesha wrote:

Haha the last one's spoof is much better: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHdvruqZwz4


May 26, 2009
10:31 AM  
Crispy wrote:

That is awesome. Nice work.


May 26, 2009
10:36 AM  
ruler wrote:

great idea, wax... /me knows almost all of these, which is sort of scary


May 26, 2009
11:23 AM  
Pip wrote:

Brilliant! But now I have Badger Badger Badger stuck in my head.


May 26, 2009
1:16 PM  
Blair Millen wrote:

What a top notch idea... and well executed too. Great stuff :-)


May 26, 2009
2:39 PM  
eyeballkid wrote:

It appears that ceiling cat is no longer interested in watching me pleasure myself. *sigh*

Great bit of work Andy. I also am a mildly disturbed that I recognize most, if not all, of them.


May 26, 2009
3:00 PM  
David wrote:

Great idea, nicely done!


May 26, 2009
3:00 PM  
Joshua Schachter wrote:

Brilliant.


May 26, 2009
3:21 PM  
TRANSPIRATION wrote:

note that all 22 have been played off by the keyboard cat


May 26, 2009
3:48 PM  
Dan wrote:

Awesome, but no Techno Viking?


May 26, 2009
5:42 PM  
Doc wrote:

Unfortunately, the National Park Service already isolated the background from one famous Internet meme:

http://www.deuceofclubs.com/moj/mojaveboothgone2.jpg


May 26, 2009
11:00 PM  
hec wrote:

cool
it reminds me of this: http://www.youtube.com/dennisknopf

you both should do a nice montage of all this stuff

XD

cheers.


May 27, 2009
12:24 AM  
Dennis Knopf wrote:

reminds me of these:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xt8MOvF6BxI&feature=channel_page


May 27, 2009
4:47 AM  
Clive wrote:

Is it sad that I knew the majority of those? Great idea though!


May 27, 2009
6:08 AM  
Eay wrote:

A great idea! But one of the first memes is missing: http://www.eayz.net/uploads/2009/ayb_scenery.gif ;)


May 27, 2009
7:26 AM  
Owen wrote:

Great, 'mouse over' reveal would be awsome...


May 27, 2009
10:44 AM  
Bryant wrote:

That was creepy. Cool!


May 27, 2009
11:02 AM  
Joe wrote:

I should know more of these since me and my wife spend probably to much of our time watching vids together. Interesting idea, it is amazing how burned into our brain these videos are we can identify them without the personality(ies) involved in making them popular. Was that an idea a sort of internet social experiment?


May 27, 2009
11:07 AM  
Edward Ho wrote:

Dude, you are crazy :) May Ceiling Cat be with you.


May 27, 2009
12:05 PM  
liberty wrote:

I only recognized like 7 of them and now i'm crazy curious to know the rest!


May 27, 2009
1:21 PM  
saltpeter wrote:

Most excellent. I only wish someone had shooped Zero Wing.


May 27, 2009
4:07 PM  
Kris18 wrote:

9.2

.1 for each I've SEEN but couldn't recognize from the picture alone.


May 27, 2009
8:01 PM  
Ben wrote:

I got a few, could you post the solutions, I'm curious to know the ones I missed


May 27, 2009
8:04 PM  
Andy Baio wrote:

Like I said in the intro, click any image to view the original video.


May 27, 2009
8:56 PM  
jane wrote:

those photos shows no emotion.


May 28, 2009
12:32 AM  
Solidkingcobra wrote:

Is it sad that I know 98% of the meme?


May 28, 2009
1:08 AM  
shane wrote:

'memery' if you will


May 28, 2009
5:02 AM  
Wade wrote:

Is it sad that I know nothing of any of these scenes?


May 28, 2009
6:07 AM  
burr wrote:

Shopped. You can see it from the pixels


May 28, 2009
6:17 AM  
eoin wrote:

i think i got about half


May 28, 2009
8:03 AM  
execoot wrote:

Also, this idea is so old, just go to 4chan ("the master of memes") and lurk moar.


May 28, 2009
8:59 AM  
DK wrote:

I've never been rick'rolled before. That said, you know which is the one I've missed. Now I lost the game.


May 28, 2009
9:14 AM  
rawr wrote:

Where's goatse?


May 28, 2009
9:16 AM  
Andy Baio wrote:

I couldn't stomach staring at Goatse, Tubgirl, or 2 Girls 1 Cup in Photoshop for an hour. If you can, send it in.


May 28, 2009
9:31 AM  
Nicko wrote:

Its so sad that I knew all of them except 2. Never saw the dynamite or the air humping one, but wow lol.


May 28, 2009
8:46 PM  
PapaTango wrote:

Suffice it to say, you've missed one really good one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNfyBqrAaPk


May 29, 2009
8:08 AM  
GoreDamien wrote:

You forgot Chad Vader

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wGR4-SeuJ0&feature=fvst


May 29, 2009
8:16 AM  
Andy Baio wrote:

Neither of those videos has a recognizable background, which was a major criteria for me.


May 30, 2009
7:12 AM  
Angela wrote:

What is that chair in the kittens vid? Is it a torture device or something? Maybe to restrain that hyper kid..


May 30, 2009
5:38 PM  
Drew Bell wrote:

That's a positioning chair for children with physical or neurological disabilities. Kinda like these.


May 30, 2009
8:59 PM  
Josh wrote:

This filled up plenty of time! Good post ;p


May 30, 2009
9:00 PM  
Josh wrote:

You should put the leave Britney alone video on here, haha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWSjUe0FyxQ


May 31, 2009
1:25 AM  
Andy Baio wrote:

I tried! It's surprisingly hard to edit Chris Crocker out.


May 31, 2009
7:07 PM  
Connor wrote:

No Sneezing Panda?!?! And no Chris crocker?!?!? What about Charlie?!!


Jun 5, 2009
8:52 AM  
Drew wrote:

Decided to make a few of my own... this is an awesome little art project :)

One
Two
Three


Jun 12, 2009
12:18 PM  
digiom (jana herwig) wrote:

I live it! and I am surprised how bad I was at spotting the meme - where is the key?


Jun 12, 2009
12:27 PM  
digiom (jana herwig) wrote:

um, I meant to say: I love it. YouTube is down right now, cannot check.


Jun 13, 2009
2:53 AM  
Jay wrote:

I'm happy to say that I can't name a single one, though Alan Taylor's cut-out looks like a tribute to Ceiling Cat. LOL!

What a wonderfully eccentric post!


Jul 12, 2009
12:09 PM  
paulie wrote:

Happy to report I recognized none of these though I recognize a view from the wtc.
P.
http://paulies.wordpress.com


Jul 19, 2009
6:14 AM  
Punsons Flora wrote:

Great idea Wax, I also am a mildly disturbed that I recognize most, if not all, of them.


Jul 19, 2009
4:35 PM  
Al wrote:

Hamster dance? The original dancing baby?


Jul 19, 2009
4:58 PM  
AA wrote:

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/


Jul 19, 2009
6:34 PM  
rufustfyrfly wrote:

What, no Bubb Rubb and Lil' Sis? No Crazy Frog Brothers?


Jul 19, 2009
7:03 PM  
rufustfyrfly wrote:

Also: thank you for making these. Awesome.


Jul 20, 2009
10:27 AM  
jrsmoltz wrote:

I don't think you are using the word 'meme' correctly.

videos and photos are not memes. they may portray a meme, but are not memes in and of themselves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme


Jul 20, 2009
10:48 AM  
Andy Baio wrote:

psst: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_meme


Jul 20, 2009
12:17 PM  
Joel wrote:

Love 'em. Missed the Orson Welles outtake from the Paul Masson swill ads, though. One of my favorites.


Aug 8, 2009
5:27 PM  
Opa1 wrote:

Huh, now I know what a Meme is...

this is so not complete yet.


Aug 23, 2009
6:11 AM  
medyum wrote:

I've never been rick'rolled before. That said, you know which is the one I've missed. Now I lost the game


Aug 25, 2009
7:36 PM  
Send flower to Chandigarh wrote:

I have never seen that one either, and it's the same, almost worse. Of course, none of those are done in flash.


Sep 4, 2009
8:15 AM  
Ivan wrote:

I just noticed that German artist Joachim Schmid did a similar thing as Jon Haddock (porn sans people): http://schmid.wordpress.com/works/2004-cyberspaces/


Sep 24, 2009
3:13 AM  
brian wrote:

superb, got about 4 of them, rest I'm trying to tap into my memory...now I can't stop looking


Nov 6, 2009
10:22 AM  
rodan44 wrote:

Please do Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt with the wolves removed. Thanks.


 

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