I don’t spend much time surfing the net. Oh, I’m there plenty, however most of my time online is for a very specific purpose. But tonight, faced with the pressure of producing my second blog post, wanting desperately for it to be as interesting as the first, and trying to decide upon a worthy topic, I found myself…surfing…
…and enjoying myself immensely. I found myself in a giant internet museum, looking around and appreciating an immense treasury of creative works. I do spend so much time in the urgency of my own creative pursuits that I forget the value of art appreciation. But tonight I found this:
This animation was created by Nina Paley to support her position that all creative work is derivative. I think the video is a beautiful creative work in and of itself. It illustrates a multi-faceted and interesting argument, at http://questioncopyright.org/minute_memes/all_creative_work_is_derivative. Here is an excerpt:
“The whole history of human culture evolves through copying, making tiny transformations (sometimes called ‘errors’) with each replication. Copying is the engine of cultural progress. It is not ‘stealing.’ It is, in fact, quite beautiful, and leads to a cultural diversity that inspires awe.”
The statement at the end of the video, “All creative work builds on what came before,” brings to my mind generations of artists in reverse order, each tweaking the art of the previous generation. My mind travels ever backward until…what? A first creation? An original? For me, Paley’s statement, drawn to its logical conclusion, invites a discussion of origin.
As a Christian, I believe that God is the original Creator of all things, and that He created man in His image. I believe that is why humans possess the desire to create. In my worldview, “what came before” takes me ever backward to the original Creator. And I, a “little ‘c’” creator, feel a sense of connectedness and purpose because I am an artist in a long line of artists that goes all the way back to the original Artist, “In the beginning.”
What do you think? Do you think Paley’s statement is true? Is all creative work derivative, or can man create something new?
I'm not a Christian, but I have a similar view about what God, (or the Logos or the Tao)instilled or inspires within us to make things, leave a mark, connect ourselves to the stream of thoughts and art of those who lived before and will live after us.
ReplyDeleteI do think that new things depend on what came before--not sure if anyone can create something completely new. Even those things that are say, 50% new usually invoke fear or scorn--so I'm not sure that something that was 100% new would survive since it would see so alien to us.
On the other had a shift in the way of looking at things by even a little bit is often enough 'newness' to lead to more justice or love or moral progress in the world.
It's almost a reminder than it is a declaration. Sometimes art only seems new because it's unveiled at a unique time in history where it's more meaningful...maybe the way it speaks to people is new and then is characterized as new. It can be both derived and 'new' with relevance.
ReplyDeleteI think sometimes we act like teenagers when it comes to art...thinking that whatever we're experiencing we must be the only ones...and no one else can understand it. It's just art.