Be an Original

Be an Original

"Everything's been done before so there's no reason to come up with original ideas."

"...but the second one is better than the first so it doesn't matter if it was copied."

"Copying is the new art form!"

I've taught a lot of classes on copyright laws and read a lot of papers from students on this subject. The quotes listed above have been pulled from actual papers. Most students learn that you can't steal someone's words and claim it's your own writing but it still amazes me that there are so many artists that think it's okay to steal someone's work or idea and claim it as their own.

In fact, I've seen artists that could not come up with ideas for a project until they searched the internet. They never learned how to brainstorm and the sad part about this story is the more they copy someone's ideas, the harder it is to come up with original ideas. I met one artist in a chat room who bragged about this. He said that every Monday; he searched the internet for all art sales. He would trace the composition for each art work that sold from his monitor screen and re-create the art and sell it the next week. He even enjoyed it when all the other artists would become upset. Eventually, he copied someone with the time and money that could sue him. I never heard from him again. All the bragging stopped and I have no idea what happened to him. We can only speculate.

I've heard other artists say that if they could improve on the original idea then they should be able to claim it. The problem with this logic is that they are not acknowledging that half the work (and stress) was done by the creator of the original work. If they do this enough, their ego gets in the way of admitting that they actually used a source and eventually they forget where they got the idea and convince themselves it came entirely from their own mind. They fall into the same trap of searching for ideas outside themselves and call it creative block when they find nothing to copy.

There is nothing wrong with building on or from an already existing idea. In fact, giving credit to the original idea and then showing or diagramming how you improved it is not only commendable, it just might help the product sell. Corporations designing products do this all the time and we've been evolving this way since prehistoric times. Did you know that no one knows who invented the wheel because it shows up in so many cultures at the same time? As soon as the first wheel was created, it was copied.

One of our textbooks tells us that there are two basic ways to come up with a 'new' design. The first way is to create something so new and original that no other product on the market compares to what it can do. The other way is to improve upon a product design that already exists. We call inventors who tackle the first way, geniuses and we tend to ignore the other group.

I believe both groups fall into the label of genius. The conclusive issue to this dilemma is not copying but giving credit when credit is due. After all, it takes very little time to say "thank you for the help" or "thank you for the inspiration," and the original artist gets validation and inspiration to create more. By practicing these strategies, we can create a support system for all artists instead of the grungy competition that many have seen on auction art sites and shows.

In the meantime, I believe in teaching my students to map out ideas, brainstorm and try other techniques for pulling ideas out of their own minds. Art History helps to show the foundation of all arts and we also study where other artists get their ideas. By trying various sources for generating ideas, the slow, frustrated artist does not have to wait around for someone else to generate an idea. Knowledge and skills give us power. This is the reason why we should keep training to be better artists, teachers, politicians...etc.