Week 8: Apply and Reflect
“Good artists copy and great artists steal” a statement that
came out of the mouth of great artist Pablo Picasso. But it is debated that Picasso
may have stolen the quote from the poet T. S. Eliot. The idea of stealing art
and putting into their own artwork can be traced back to Shakespeare. Randal Barthes explains in his writing, “The Death
of the Author” that words spoken or written are just words, yet how nothing is original.
Barthes says, “we know that a text is not a line of words releasing
a single ‘theological’ meaning (the ‘message’ of the Author-God) but a multidimensional
space in which a variety of writings, none of them original, blend and clash. The
text is a tissue of quotations drawn from the innumerable centers of culture” 1
In all art form this is seen, the quotations that are on the canvas or paper. Styles
are a form of being unoriginal. Post-Impressionism movement was the culture in
the art world, it would be hard not to paint in the express of the culture that
was happening during that time. Even Paul Signac influenced Vincent Van Gogh in
pointillism. To the point where if The Sower and Place des Linces
St. Tropez paintings were put side
to side to would be hard to decipher who is the painter. It is the focus of the
painter that makes these paintings seem like they could never be the same. The color palettes are close, the subject
matter is everyday life and solitude. Not to downgrade Signac and Van Gogh and
say they don’t know how to create an idea or that they are not masters of their
skills. But focusing on the painter takes away the calmness of each painting
and the comfort they bring to the viewer.
Authors need to be forgotten. The author’s intentions can easily
be forgotten since it not about the author. All context, all meaning, all intentions are
in the reader or viewer’s power. The viewer is the one that has the emotional and
intellectual connection to what they are seeing and participating in that
shapes them as a person. So why does it
matter who said great artist steal because we know that all artist takes from
one another?
Hey Rachel, I can respect that you devalue the author, as I can see where it comes from. The work will always be the thing that catches the people’s eye, and not the person who created it. You did well to convey your thoughts in a way that’s easy to understand, good job this week and keep it up.
ReplyDeleteWhen you say that authors need to be forgotten do you mean that plagiarism shouldn't exist or that nothing should have any claim to it? I might agree to the plagiarism to an extent but as to the other it would be rather sad if someone did something just to be remembered in this world and then was erased from existence.
ReplyDeleteI understand where the sentiment of forgetting authors come from. Though I would argue that future authors don't come from pieces themselves, but rather the authors that inspired them. People who are interested in a piece become invested when they discover more about the author. Whether the art itself is considered good or not. For example, if someone creates a piece that is absolutely terrible, people are invested not in the piece itself, but how the terribleness of the piece came to be.
ReplyDeleteI still have a wish list of ideal guests for a dinner party. Douglas Adams, Quentin Crisp, Oscar Wilde Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfaare they are all authors and artists that I admire for the unique imagination and style that they put into their work, because of their work I'd love to meet them, not to discuss their work, but just to see how their imaginations work and be entertained by their sharp wits. Long live the author ... even the dead ones.
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