ITAP 1

(28 october)

Notions of originality/Can recontextualised ideas be contemporary?

Many people who have in their mind the idea of becoming artists probably think of themselves as extremely creative and original. But possibly one of the first things to realize, choosing this road, is that no idea is original. Everything has already been thought of in one way or another. The human brain thinks in similar ways, and the simple fact that everything we can create is based on inspiration makes it so that nothing is original. There is nothing wrong about this, and we cannot escape it.  No idea can be formed, except maybe very simple ones, without being influenced by our surroundings, and starting a degree means there are at least 20 years of influence in our minds. So we discover that our idea of originality does not exist; what does ‘original’ mean then in the present day? Maybe being able to create something interesting and ‘new’ with all those images, words, ideas that our mind has processed. When an aspiring artist has realized this, I think he or she (or can we consider artists an ‘it’?) has only one way to go: learn. Learn as much as we can about the world we live in, the different artists that surround us, and the ones that have come before us. This means having to accept at an even deeper level that everything has been done, but after having overcome that obstacle it is an eye-opener, a constant creative input. Because maybe that is what makes an artist’s mind different: seeing something and wanting to change it, personalize it, make it into something different that appeals to our mind. Or maybe sometimes simply wishing we had done that particular piece (but not pretending we actually have, that is obviously plagiarism). So being original becomes synonymous of changing, modifying, moulding, recontextualising ideas to make them personal, modern, to make them into something different.

An example of how an idea has been recontextualised during the years: Manet's 'La Déjeuner sur l'Herbe' (1863)

Edouard Manet, 'Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe' 1863

Pablo Picasso, 'Déjeuner sur l'Herbe' 1961

Bow Wow Wow's cover for 'I Want Candy' 1982

Gilbert Shelton, 'Les fabuleux Freak Brothers' 1982

Yue Minjun, 'Déjeuner sur l'Herbe' 1995

Alexander Vinogradov &Vladimir Dubosarsky, 'Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe' 2002

Mario Sorrenti, Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, 1998

Milo Manara, in 'Giuseppe Bergman' 2005

Captain Caverne, 'Le Déjeuner sur l'Herbe' 2009

[The internet is a limitless source. Some of the pieces linked to La Déjeuner sur l'Herbe I already knew, others I found on this site who has done a brilliant job]