What I've learned
This is a great discussion we've got going here about the search for something new, in our own art and in that of our art heroes. Ricë is also struggling with this in her own way, which is to say she's kinda horrified and fascinated at the same time. As am I.
Of course we all copy something from time to time, either as we're learning in a class, or sometime down the road when we don't even remember the original source. And that's because, as Kecia said in the last post's comments, we're human and as mixed media artists we do tend to like some of the same things. (On a totally random tangent: that's one reason why one local newscast tends to have the same content and look as the next.)
But I think one of the most frustrating things for people who've been artists for a long time (say, more than ten years) is a lack of control.
You've worked really hard to figure out your Thing, and then here come hordes of people trying to do exactly what you spent years noodling with and imbuing with your personal meaning. It's diluting your brand, as the marketing people would say. What's so great about the Sistine Chapel ceiling if anyone can buy something similar -- and even worse, watching them replace it once they lose interest?
Another aggravating thing: you don't even know if someone's just sincerely attempting to learn and grow, or if they're just ripping you off because what you do is hot right now and copying is easier than innovating.
But you'd never stop everyone from putting dunce caps on every vintage image (for example), even if you wanted to. Unless you're Disney, and you have an entire division of people who do nothing but hunt down copycats and copyright infringers.
Second, if you're a Name, you never know if a similar artwork really is generated independently from your own work. It does happen all the time, but the chances of that drop in inverse proportion to your renown, don't you think?
That's why some lawyers make a lot of money defending Famous Person X in lawsuits that say he swiped someone else's original work and made millions. (Also why other lawyers make a living just by convincing FPX's lawyers to give them lots of money to drop the lawsuit. And why music sampling in hip-hop was such a huge deal in that business.) Even if it's settled in court, you just never know for sure.
And third, as Kecia said, the retreat business exists because we want to learn how someone else does what they do. Retreats wouldn't exist without newbies -- 'cause there just ain't enough artists out there on the level of a Lynne Perrella or a Michael deMeng who have the time to just get together for a convention.
This is another reason why I think a Room of One's Own is necessary for artists. (Thank you, Virginia Woolf.) You can hear yourself think, so to speak, on more than one level. Once you know what you want to say, you seek out others to share it with them. You sell your stuff, or you teach your techniques, or whatever. But it doesn't get a chance to emerge without the isolation. Without a Room of One's Own, I think you're forced to take over someone else's Room just to be fed creatively -- to search for the Next Big Thing, because you have nothing else. And that's no fair -- or fun -- either.
I think we'll all be fine, even the Name artists who teach. Someone may have taught you everything you know...
but that doesn't mean they've taught you everything they know.
Of course we all copy something from time to time, either as we're learning in a class, or sometime down the road when we don't even remember the original source. And that's because, as Kecia said in the last post's comments, we're human and as mixed media artists we do tend to like some of the same things. (On a totally random tangent: that's one reason why one local newscast tends to have the same content and look as the next.)
But I think one of the most frustrating things for people who've been artists for a long time (say, more than ten years) is a lack of control.
You've worked really hard to figure out your Thing, and then here come hordes of people trying to do exactly what you spent years noodling with and imbuing with your personal meaning. It's diluting your brand, as the marketing people would say. What's so great about the Sistine Chapel ceiling if anyone can buy something similar -- and even worse, watching them replace it once they lose interest?
Another aggravating thing: you don't even know if someone's just sincerely attempting to learn and grow, or if they're just ripping you off because what you do is hot right now and copying is easier than innovating.
But you'd never stop everyone from putting dunce caps on every vintage image (for example), even if you wanted to. Unless you're Disney, and you have an entire division of people who do nothing but hunt down copycats and copyright infringers.
Second, if you're a Name, you never know if a similar artwork really is generated independently from your own work. It does happen all the time, but the chances of that drop in inverse proportion to your renown, don't you think?
That's why some lawyers make a lot of money defending Famous Person X in lawsuits that say he swiped someone else's original work and made millions. (Also why other lawyers make a living just by convincing FPX's lawyers to give them lots of money to drop the lawsuit. And why music sampling in hip-hop was such a huge deal in that business.) Even if it's settled in court, you just never know for sure.
And third, as Kecia said, the retreat business exists because we want to learn how someone else does what they do. Retreats wouldn't exist without newbies -- 'cause there just ain't enough artists out there on the level of a Lynne Perrella or a Michael deMeng who have the time to just get together for a convention.
This is another reason why I think a Room of One's Own is necessary for artists. (Thank you, Virginia Woolf.) You can hear yourself think, so to speak, on more than one level. Once you know what you want to say, you seek out others to share it with them. You sell your stuff, or you teach your techniques, or whatever. But it doesn't get a chance to emerge without the isolation. Without a Room of One's Own, I think you're forced to take over someone else's Room just to be fed creatively -- to search for the Next Big Thing, because you have nothing else. And that's no fair -- or fun -- either.
I think we'll all be fine, even the Name artists who teach. Someone may have taught you everything you know...
but that doesn't mean they've taught you everything they know.
Malaise
I've noticed more and more a frustration in the art blogosphere. Maybe it's just the aftermath of big ol' events like Art & Soul, where you're flooded with the sight of other people's art. Maybe it's the profusion of art blogs (guilty, mostly) that cram even more art input into your brain than usual.
Maybe it's the rush to put together art in time for people to buy holiday gifts. Maybe it's just the damn holidays themselves.
But there's this continual, insistent thread that says, "Get your own damn art! Find your style and stop trying to bite mine already!"
Sometimes it's pretty literal. Sometimes it's a little more indirect. I was going to link to a couple of rants in particular, but I changed my mind. I don't want to make anyone feel like they're being watched through their studio windows.
Nonetheless, there's been quite the hullabaloo at the A&S Yahoo! group recently, for example. People have been discussing the use of photography during class, especially to take "notes." The kind of photos that could end up as the basis for someone else's "original" class.
Jaysus, you'd think posters would say to themselves, "hey, someone's already said pretty much what I've said. I'm going to keep silent." Oh no. Not really. Which leads to this: A couple of people seemed on the verge of lynching one particular artist because her artwork seemed too similar to that of Nina Bagley for it to be mere coincidence.
And it makes me a little nervous too, because I do have an artistic point of view... I do things a little differently from the next artist... but I can feel myself Looking For the Next Big Thing, too. There are wings on all sorts of pieces I've made. Shoot, just look at this. (But I had to use them! They're so pretty, and I'm just trying to stop hoarding my Good Stuff!) I'm just not at the point where you could blindfold yourself and still pick out my stuff from everyone else's. I know I have my thing, but it's not yet my THING.
It looks like we're all suffering a bit from Too Much Information, even the good kind. The studenty types are ravenous for more of anything from the instructory types -- more posts -- more online gallery pics -- more class samples -- more projects more more more. I think the professionals are feeling like they're being eaten alive. The scene is eating itself, and not in a good way.
And the same zines/magazines much of us read -- or are featured in, you-know-who-you-are -- feed the mania. I used to write for a teeny weeny trade magazine (totally different industry) and then for TV. These days, all sorts of media, from TV to magazines to online publications, spend much of their time repurposing stuff. It's not labeled that way, but that's what you're seeing. And it's possible, in this milieu, because so many people are creating so much that there's a niche for every last piece, it seems. And we devour it. So another Special Publication comes out. And another.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to interfere with anyone's livelihood. But I wouldn't be surprised if we see a slowdown in some of the more informal artistic output, like blog posts (or maybe we'll see posts that are more about The Part of Life that Gets in the Way of Art).
Maybe, just for the sake of sanity, maybe we need to keep some stuff secret for a while.
UPDATE: The lovely and insightful new reader Kelly made some interesting comments on this phenomenon. Go see how clever she is.
Maybe it's the rush to put together art in time for people to buy holiday gifts. Maybe it's just the damn holidays themselves.
But there's this continual, insistent thread that says, "Get your own damn art! Find your style and stop trying to bite mine already!"
Sometimes it's pretty literal. Sometimes it's a little more indirect. I was going to link to a couple of rants in particular, but I changed my mind. I don't want to make anyone feel like they're being watched through their studio windows.
Nonetheless, there's been quite the hullabaloo at the A&S Yahoo! group recently, for example. People have been discussing the use of photography during class, especially to take "notes." The kind of photos that could end up as the basis for someone else's "original" class.
Jaysus, you'd think posters would say to themselves, "hey, someone's already said pretty much what I've said. I'm going to keep silent." Oh no. Not really. Which leads to this: A couple of people seemed on the verge of lynching one particular artist because her artwork seemed too similar to that of Nina Bagley for it to be mere coincidence.
And it makes me a little nervous too, because I do have an artistic point of view... I do things a little differently from the next artist... but I can feel myself Looking For the Next Big Thing, too. There are wings on all sorts of pieces I've made. Shoot, just look at this. (But I had to use them! They're so pretty, and I'm just trying to stop hoarding my Good Stuff!) I'm just not at the point where you could blindfold yourself and still pick out my stuff from everyone else's. I know I have my thing, but it's not yet my THING.
It looks like we're all suffering a bit from Too Much Information, even the good kind. The studenty types are ravenous for more of anything from the instructory types -- more posts -- more online gallery pics -- more class samples -- more projects more more more. I think the professionals are feeling like they're being eaten alive. The scene is eating itself, and not in a good way.
And the same zines/magazines much of us read -- or are featured in, you-know-who-you-are -- feed the mania. I used to write for a teeny weeny trade magazine (totally different industry) and then for TV. These days, all sorts of media, from TV to magazines to online publications, spend much of their time repurposing stuff. It's not labeled that way, but that's what you're seeing. And it's possible, in this milieu, because so many people are creating so much that there's a niche for every last piece, it seems. And we devour it. So another Special Publication comes out. And another.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to interfere with anyone's livelihood. But I wouldn't be surprised if we see a slowdown in some of the more informal artistic output, like blog posts (or maybe we'll see posts that are more about The Part of Life that Gets in the Way of Art).
Maybe, just for the sake of sanity, maybe we need to keep some stuff secret for a while.
UPDATE: The lovely and insightful new reader Kelly made some interesting comments on this phenomenon. Go see how clever she is.
Jesus Christ. What kind of foulness is this?
I can't even bring myself to post fully about this. Just go to Brainhandles and read about it.
I emailed A&E to register my disgust, and also emailed To the Point (a Public Radio International show) to suggest that they cover this in light of Don Imus getting back on the radio. Everyone needs to know about this -- not just because it's an outrage, but also because people need to know what to look for. And this is just the obvious racist crap!
This shit makes me sick. The only good thing about it is the son who outed that repellent excuse for a humanoid.
I'm done.
I emailed A&E to register my disgust, and also emailed To the Point (a Public Radio International show) to suggest that they cover this in light of Don Imus getting back on the radio. Everyone needs to know about this -- not just because it's an outrage, but also because people need to know what to look for. And this is just the obvious racist crap!
This shit makes me sick. The only good thing about it is the son who outed that repellent excuse for a humanoid.
I'm done.