Plagiarism

Or as we artists call it: art imitating art. The problem has been identified by many; you can not ever create something original, when everything you have ever seen influences what is left behind by your pencil. Various words have been invented to justify this idea thievery we are all a part of: homage, reference, Intertextual reference, quote, derivative and others I cant think of right now. The problem is that we can rarely imagine things that we haven't seen before; I certainly can't imagine the colour that lies higher up the spectrum than ultraviolet even if I know it must exist. So until I have the tools or imagination to comprehend it I am going to have to make do with a pallet made up of colours I can find or be shown.

The reason I used pictures of superman to illustrate Plagiarism is because he looks so ridiculous yet I and everyone loves him. I think it's not superman but the idea of superman that everyone's in love with. Sure you can copyright a blue leotard and a red cape and pants but you cant stamp a '©' on what they represent. Superman is the quint essential superhero and who can't remember being 10 and wanting his powers, hell any powers would do. So for me it's not superman's cape that makes me go 'cool' but the attributes it represents. If I break them down most images I draw, talk about, obsess over and reproduce aren't much more than a thin beautifully illustrated facier for the ideas they represent.