Robert Motherwell inspired by Henri Matisse’s 1909 painting Dance created Le Danse in 1952.
We may think we are unique, and we are. Nobody else has my same thumbprint and nobody else has my same dental profile. Yet, when I open up my world in relation to history, or contemporary culture, I may see many similarities; a repeat, the same old song. A friend once said to me, “There is no original story, only your unique version of it.” This familiarity can be both comforting and disheartening. While we want to believe we are unique at the same time we like to feel we are assimilating within a whole of society.
This brings me to the title of my blog. For many, many months I contemplated a blog name. I looked both inward and outward for inspiration, ultimately focusing on my bookshelf. I played with the words of the titles of my favorite books. Testing out several variations. One was “The World According to Me” (referencing The World According to Garp), but I found on Google a multitude of worlds according to me, Mary, Tom, Dick, and Harry. Another, “The Pursuit of Meaningfulness,” inspired by Jefferson’s words…of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; because, I believe a pursuit of meaningfulness will lead to a life with happiness; however, I realized this lofty title inspired other writers. I abandoned “The Moments,” inspired by Virginia Woolf’s novel The Hours, even my version of Wuthering Heights which I cleverly altered to “Wittering Heights” only to discover that creative mind thought up this also!
All of this brings me to my beginning contemplation, who is original? Visual artists reference works from the past through appropriation of images and ideas. Consider Richard Pettibon, Richard Prince, Allan McCollum, Marcel Duchamp, and Eve Sussman. The list goes on and on, and is long.
Shown above is a c.1661 painting by Charles le Brun, Chancellor Seguier at the entry of Louis XIV into Paris in 1660 that inspired Kehinde Wiley to createThe Chancellor Seguier on Horseback in 2005.
Musicians lift beats from classical songs or old classical rock, and create popular remixes. The borrowed and appropriated become a new creation that is an original.
Lou Reed’s rock classic “Walk On The Wild Side” is the inspiration for a electro mood song of the same title compiled by DJ Disse and mixed into contemporary hip hop beat by A Tribe Called Quest for their song ”Can I Kick It?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZ88oTITMoM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WImZgL-L1lY
Even our memories are new creations from our past happenings. None of us live in a vacuum; we are influenced by historical references. I ask, what is the judgment of originality? And, for those who strive ever so for creativity and originality, I dedicate a favorite song by Mac Davis.
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