It’s a situation familiar to anyone who has been, or even near, an art school: You encounter people dressed weird and doing something strange. Upon inquiry, you discover that the reason is “Art.” Right on! Thus is the plot of an 8-second TikTok video by user @itsreefa, which documents his discovery of two art students covering a small car in tinfoil.
“What’s this?” Reefa wonders aloud, as his progress down the sidewalk reveals one of the car-foilers to be clad in a giant squarish red wig, a sort of dimensional spiral dress made of purple cardboard, and a green boa.
“It’s an art project,” says the costumed student, sounding only 70% convinced himself.
“Okay, I like it, Picasso,” says Reefa, never breaking stride. “Yeah, datway.”
Simple enough, but also charming, and containing that mystical combination of elements that make it the latest viral TikTok trend. The original post has 6.5 million views, and Reefa’s audio has now been remixed into endless new TikToks of people proclaiming their approval of exceptional everyday encounters.
Here are some things that TikTok thinks are “Picasso”: actual art, things pets get up to, fish, and definitely getting nude SnapChats from their best friends, which is a thing people do now? Apparently so. There’s a dog named Picasso with two paws growing out of one leg? Picasso! Your depression-trashed apartment? Picasso! Even Jennifer Aniston is getting in on it.
For his part, Reefa seems to be taking his moment of fame in stride, doing a remix on his own trend, and even marketing his own line of “It’s A Art Project, Picasso” t-shirts, water bottles, mugs, and hoodies. As for the art project, a follow-up TikTok by Reefa (sporting the same audio) shows its culmination, as the tin foiled car drives away with the wigged figure hanging onto the roof, being chased by a girl in a headpiece streaming green smoke. You know, art. Yeah, datway.
