Michael James Schneider

About

Michael James Schneider, also known as the social media names @BLCKSMTH and @BLCKSMTHdesign, is an American artist known for social media posts featuring phrases written with letter-shaped balloons.

History

Schneider joined Twitter and Instagram in 2012. He made his first Instagram post on November 23rd, 2012 (shown below).^[1]

Balloon Art

In 2018, he began posting phrases written with balloons on Twitter and Instagram. He tweeted^[2] the earliest known available example on May 4th, 2018, which features the sentence "I just pooped at work" with the caption "doo what scares u the most." The post received more than 1,900 likes in less than two years (shown below, left).

Later that year, he went viral for the first time with a balloon piece that reads, "Straight men understand consent when they go to a gay bar." The tweet^[3] received more than 258,000 likes and 84,000 retweets in less than two years (shown below, center).

Months later, on July 15th, he posted a variation with the phrase "Donald Trump is a Ra_ist." The picture also features Schneider holding the letters "C" and "P." The post received more than 59,000 likes in less than one year (shown below, right).

On April 26th, 2020, he tweeted a balloon post that reads,^[4] "You're only unproductive by the standards of the world we lived in two months ago and that world is gone now." The post received more than 37,000 likes and 13,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below).

The tweet^[5] was later shared by writer Ana Marie Cox, who received more than 150,000 likes and 40,000 retweets in less than one week.

Criticism

On April 18th, 2020, Barstools Sports ^[7] listed him among "The Worst Of The Internet."

Some have been critical of Schneider's balloon art. On April 26th, Twitter^[6] user @SorryMomDotGov retweeted the Ana Marie Cox post and wrote, "Is this mf still buying balloons rn." The tweet received more than 159,000 likes and 10,000 retweets in less than one week (shown below).

Schneider later clarified that he recycles the balloons.^[8]

"You're Fucking the Wrong People" Controversy

On June 18th, 2020, Schneider posted another balloon piece with the text, "If you're not running into people you've fucked at these protests, you're fucking the wrong people." The text is a tweet from @Taylor_Ortega.^[10] Schneider captioned the piece by noting he'd run into two, though the tweet is now deleted

The post renewed Twitter user's frustrations with Schneider. User @whatapityonyou^[11] tweeted, "please stop giving this guy balloons," gaining over 150 retweets and 1,800 likes (shown below, left). User @Philip_Ellis^[12] wrote, "How much more does society have to break down before he stops purchasing those cunting balloons," gaining over 60 retweets and 700 likes (shown below, right).

Schneider^[13] deleted the post and apologized for it, writing he was "hoping to make people laugh" and "It wasn't my intention to denigrate the BLM movement" (shown below).

Reputation

On July 20th, 2019, Forbes^[9] published the article "Artist Reclaims Instagram Cliché For Viral Political Message" on Schneiders's "Donald Trump is ra_ist" post. They wrote:

On Instagram, the traditional use of the balloons are typically used in celebratory situations like engagements or gender reveals. He's also used the balloons, which he recycles to be environmentally-conscious, to address female reproductive, transgender rights and Instagram art.

Search Interest

External References