The ‘This Is Fine’ Decade ⇥ garbageday.email

Ryan Broderick:

But the comic “On Fire,” by KC Green, two panels of which became the meme probably better know as the “This Is Fine” dog, is a bit different. It has a known creator and it was created with an intended purpose and it has, in many ways, grown over time and in a way that is totally in line with its original meaning. In other words, it’s piece of art and has aged exactly like all good pieces of art. Though, that doesn’t make its legacy simple to deal with.

In a recent Tumblr post, Green reflected on a decade of “On Fire,” and explored some of the bizarre existential questions that come from being the sole originator of a piece of internet canon. “When a work gets as big as this has, is it still yours,” Green asks. “I got lucky being able to ride it out a little. But it’s not perfectly in my grasp.”

You know that Iconfactory post I just linked to? Look at the illustration.