The great thing about the Internet and social media is that sometimes amazing things happen...
This is the case with this story that happens on Reddit.
A user posted a photo of his mother holding the second painting of his career, a depiction of a bird, probably an egret. The user states that his mother thinks no one would like his painting.
But the opposite happens. Soon, many people kindly compliment the mother on her work. And that's when something extraordinary happens.
Another Reddit user decides to get his shirt wet by painting the picture of the mother holding her painting.
Very quickly, this new photo of the man holding the painting of the mother holding her painting of a bird goes viral on the site, receiving many votes… kicking off one of the most extraordinary and heartwarming trends Reddit has ever seen.
Something incredible is happening on reddit. I'm tempted to say these people have way too much time, but this is legit amazing. #RecursionFTW pic.twitter.com/mr8jHjTbnV
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) 30th January 2019
The machine is running wild and many Reddit users are starting to make paintings of other users with the paint of the paint of the paint...
Before long, Reddit becomes an impromptu art bazaar, with increasingly complicated chains of paintings and always, in the middle of it all, a mother and her painting of a white bird.
The most extraordinary thing about the story is that the spread of the meme only added to its complexity. Different painters began to choose the same starting images, creating multiple chronological branches.
Oh lord, there are multiple branches! pic.twitter.com/eGRmcQ9BXL
— Nick Kapur (@nick_kapur) 30th January 2019
« Oh my god, there are many branches…«
Desperate to put this meme to rest (or at least start to “uncomplicate” it), one brave Redditor tried to close the loop in his own way:
But to our delight, this attempt did not work and the loop continues!
In fact, someone even created a website that shows the different branches of this incredible story in a timeline: I painted. You can click on each of the images to go directly to the original reddit of each image!
It's stuff like this that makes me love the web! Rock on!
Article updated on January 7, 2025 by Byothe
