Emojis have hijacked our words, our social networks, and the general literacy of our nation’s youth. So while it feels like I should hate rapper Yung Jake’s absurdly skilled emoji-based portraits on principle alone — I can’t. They are grotesque, they are obscene, and they are incredible.
The “internet anti-socialite’s” artwork comes courtesy of emoji.ink, a site that allows you to create works of art using the various emojis of the world as your paintbrush. A talent for which Yung Jake appears to have a natural propensity.
https://twitter.com/yungjake
You may be wondering as I was, is it really attributable to talent or skill when there’s a program explicitly intended to facilitate these sorts of drawings? So for the sake of journalism, I set out to paint an emoji sun.
Either Yung Jake is an emoji prodigy or I have a severe fine motor skill deficiency. Perhaps both.
kim… pic.twitter.com/Qsm2mG7sxb
— black hoodies (@yungjake) January 9, 2015
larry pic.twitter.com/vo1XcJkQzZ
— black hoodies (@yungjake) January 14, 2015
Either way, Yung Jake has stumbled upon something that is equal parts beautiful and horrifying. We can’t wait for the MOMA exhibit. [Digg]