What makes an original? Is it a point of view? Is it a way of life or a manner of thinking? Perhaps it’s all of the above. In looking back on millenia of invention and innovation, how can anyone claim originality without at least tipping one’s hat at the source? Perhaps inspiration, not plagiarism is the true measure of originality in the post modern world. Through borrowing and interpreting, we are party to the genius of reworking concepts and revisiting ideas that made it. Ideas that succeeded. With every iteration and reformation of those ideas, we have an opportunity of imbuing them with a contemporary world view. Seen through the eyes of a 21st Century creator, a work of art or design brought back to life can reacquaint us with a grand past. At the same time, that new work can deliver a useful jolt to the senses with surprise and whimsy: something our ancestors may have lacked, due to the serious work of inventing something from scratch. Then again, those seeking true, unfettered originality have a much higher bar set for them. Their litmus test is immediate and unforgiving.
In the visual world of art, unlike musical arts, the parameters of what makes art “art” seem much less stringent. For instance, if Jackson Pollack had been a composer rather than a painter, how many recordings would he have sold? If the chords struck by his orchestra were streaked, dissonant sounds booming across a vast hall, piercing wails and shrieking violins assailing the masses seated: how long would concert goers sit for a recital before the dissonance overwhelmed them? Yet, Pollack’s truly original, dissonant, screaming paintings created their own movement and disciples. These disciples whether real or affecting understanding revered him as a demigod. His bar, compared to that of a musician seems in hindsight, quite low. His contemporaries had no such forgiveness. Even the modernists in music corralled themselves into something that had a lyrical, traditional western nature. Pollack may have offended some, but others embraced him. Pollack the musical genius might easily have offended all. So it is that we risk to create new ideas and make them ours knowing that it’s probably been done before. To be truly original may be impossible this late in the game. There are those that are satisfied to be too literal and hope not to get caught. Speech writers and politicians are notable examples. Between the literal plagiarist and the inspired “borrower”, lies the true genius. He is the ultimate recycler. The recycler of beauty, with his own unique point of view. He creates magic in new worlds for fresh, hungry eyes. -EM
