From Inspiration comes...

"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour Old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random converstations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to stea...l from the speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work and theft with be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your theivery - Celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Hean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to." - Jim Jarmusch

It's interesting that I had saved that quote from Jim  Jarmusch and was looking for a Mark Ryden painting when I came across Incarnation a painting Mark Ryden painted back in 2009 before Lady Gaga made an appearance in her now famous meat dress at this years MTV awards.

While I think it is possible to have and maintain some orginality I do see Jarmusch's point. Sometimes it is important to your creative center to take from things that inspire you and to transform them into something else.

To be inspired means to recreate something to your style and your preference otherwise it's just imitation.

 

Comments

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I was told in my teacher training that good teachers steal. Yep, steal. They didn't try to sugarcoat it or anything.

And thinking about my music training, such notions are true there, too. Any composition or musicology major worth their salt should be able to tell you that Mozart didn't do a lot of original work... he was simply distilling the well-known melodies of his time. Ironically, Mozart was open to a lot more music performances (including the ones at the local tavern) than a lot of stuffy, effete classical aficionados are today.

Now, apply this to notions of copyright law, especially the Digital Economy Act of the UK, software patents, the corporate music business machine, etc. ... and you really do wonder why they are so ham-fisted about derivative work. Oh, other than pure greed, I mean.