About
Hipster Kitty (a.k.a Hipster Cat) is an image macro series featuring a fashion-conscious kitten wearing a lavender hoodie and a pair of thick-framed glasses, derived from a painting called “Allison” by artist Craig Wheat.
These image macros are typically paired with tongue-in-cheek sayings to poke fun at the self-righteous lifestyles of vintage-lovin’, cheap beer-sippin’, Bukowski-quotin’ urban folks. To a certain extent, Hipster Kitty can be seen as a self-parody phenomenon.
The Artist’s Reaction
Craig Wheat seems to be embracing the Internet’s adoption of Hipster Kitty.
Essentially the internet ate a piece of my art and turned it into a ever collaborating beast. here is the piece entitled “Allison” collage, acrylic ink, spray paint
Origin
The earliest known instance of “Hipster Kitty” image macros was uploaded via Tumblr on August 24th, 2009. Posted by Brittnie on her blog, the image description read “well, it doesn’t matter who is better because Hipster Kitty will doubt EVERYONE’S indie cred.” Since August 2009, the kitty macro has been re-blogged hundreds of times on Tumblr:
Etymology of Hip
Hip is an American slang term vaguely meaning “fashionably current.” But since the term doesn’t refer to one specific quality (similar to “cool”), what is actually considered hip is ever-changing and therefore impossible to define. The early usage of terms like “hipster” and “hip cats” can be traced back to the popular jazz & swing era in the 1930s, when it was used to describe someone who was “in the know” about Bebop music and social scenes. Also check out the Charleston Dance Remix meme for more.
Spread
The square version of indie kitty macro and customizable template were made available via Memegenerator on November 22, 2009. Since its debut on Tumblr and Memegenerator, the Hipster Kitty series has spawned over 6,000 variations as of February 2010 and currently stands at the demigod tier on Memegenerator. 1,000 variations as of March 2010. You can also check out the F*ck Yeah, Hipster Kitty single topic blog.
Notable Examples
Hipsters in Pop Culture & Internet
Today, “hipster” is predominantly used as a pejorative label to describe anyone who’s visibly engaged in anti-mainstream music/art scenes, chiefly through means of niche consumerism and overt display of creative expression. While this macro series captures the essence of a self-confused cultural phenomenon, people on the internet have been cracking observational jokes and parodies about “annoying hipsters” since the mid-2000s.
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Meme Details
Origin
Tumblr
Year
2009
4 editors
Fransk
Brand New Member
Brad
Community Manager
AJ Mazur
Entry Moderator, Image Moderator, & Staff Intern
Chris Menning
Community Manager
