Illustration by Wynter Somera

Correction: The DEK for this article in print reads “Twink Peaks.” This was an unfortunately hilarious error, as the DEK was meant to read “Twin Peaks.” Please enjoy our gloriously printed mistake.

“So there’s almost something I can’t really describe or put into words about it …  the unique combination of those two things just works together in a really unique way.”

That’s how Jesse Brooks, the creator of “Seinpeaks,” described their project: a niche but popular social media page with over 146k followers that’s completely absurd yet grounded in artistic plausibility.

“Seinpeaks” largely consists of different memes, fan edits, and a secret third thing — combining images, videos, and references to “Seinfeld” and “Twin Peaks” in various formats. While the ethos is loose, the general idea is about finding a balance of two very different, well-crafted pieces of media and creating a new unique blend. One of the more popular posts sees a snippet from an episode of Seinfeld where Kramer describes his yearning for a greater life through the lens of Jerry Seinfeld to George Costanza. The edit sets the scene to Laura Palmer’s theme from “Twin Peaks,” whilst cutting the laugh track.

The page started as sort of a reaction to the 2017 “Twin Peaks” revival, and out of a desire to create a place for existing content about the combined shows.

“I was taking time off from work, and I had completely consumed ‘Twin Peaks.’  Really,  I was just on meme Facebook groups, and ‘Seinfeld’ memes would pop up and ‘Twin Peaks’ memes would pop up, and people would start mashing them together. And I said, ‘You know, maybe I should make a page to post some of these on,’” Brooks said.

Since then, Brooks has consistently made posts for “Seinpeaks,” including the occasional variation to form with references to tangentially related media like “Eraserhead” or “Curb Your Enthusiasm.” Posts that don’t directly include “Seinfeld” or “Twin Peaks” still incorporate a comedic and dramatic split — dramatic things sitting on the “Peaks” side and comedic things sit on the “Sein” side.

“I have to play it by ear. Sometimes I don’t know until I realize that I’ve gone too far away from it. So I’m kind of sometimes making content just for me, and if it flops, then I know that, okay, well, that was cool.  I’m not going to delete it, but I probably won’t do that again,” said Brooks.

“‘Seinfeld’ was probably, in terms of writing quality and production quality and creative people who are passionate about a project and turning it into something successful, the top of the game for sitcoms in the ’90s. And then similarly, ‘Twin Peaks’ is the best. It’s in its own genre, so you can’t really compare it with anything else — and they’re on that same wavelength, but they’re different enough to where the juxtaposition creates something kind of uncomfortable and comedic,” said Brooks.

While the combination of dramas and comedies is nothing new (Hi, dramedies!), “Seinpeaks” accomplishes something different. The unauthorized mish-mash of these two specific shows together is interesting.

Similar things akin to “Seinpeaks” like “Severance Peaks” exist from other creators. Unlike “Seinpeaks,” “Severance Peaks” is less focused on poking fun at the two things anomalously working together, and more about seeing the two shows as in conversation with one another.

“Seinpeaks” exists in a place of simultaneous comfort and discomfort. Aside from the juxtaposition of the two shows, there’s also an element of irony in the combining of two completely different ideas that ultimately creates something amusing and poignant. Both “Seinfeld” and “Twin Peaks” weren’t in conversation with each other at their initial creations, so the combination of both exists in both a comical and entirely unheard-of setting.

In an unintentional sense, “Seinpeaks” exists as a curation of appropriative art. Like appropriation in the fine art world or sampling in the music world, “Seinpeaks” consists of preexisting media that becomes  something that exists in its own right.

On the note of the recontextualization and appropriation, Brooks said, “ I know that I’m ripping off two different really cool creative things to make my own thing. But there is something that’s a very serious format of art, is like that sort of postmodernism, recontextualization, the kind of stuff that Andy Warhol has done, and filmmakers that will take old commercials and repurpose them into something new.”

Social media posts aside, Brooks has a longer passion project for “Seinpeaks.” “The Other Side of Darkness” is a multimedia project that imagines a “Seinfeld” episode written in the style of a David Lynch project. It’s an audio format show with a full cast of voice actors that will be about seven episodes long.

“That’s been kind of my passion project. It’s taken the past four years to produce because I’ve got two kids and a full-time job, so it’s hard for me to do it because it is a very big production. But it’s something that I really, really enjoy because it’s the closest I’ve come to actually making a film, even though it’s an audio format, with a full screenplay and actors and composers,” said Brooks.

“Seinpeaks” has come a long way in the seven years that it’s been active. It started with more simplistic image-text style memes, and has gradually become more of an elongated performance piece. And with longer projects like “The Other Side of Darkness,” Seinpeaks’ future is rife with comedic juxtaposition and artistic promise.