What is original work?
How does “inspired by” become original”?
How d’you keep your work from being derivative?
Interesting questions, and clearly on many peoples’ minds –
for two reasons:
- we’ve seen a LOT of clones, let’s face it!!
- Most big shows and jurors say they are looking for “original” work.
As time goes on it seems to be
harder and harder to make something that no one has seen before…to write
something new, to find a problem that no one else has investigated (as many a
graduate student knows!)…
But wait! Each one of us is
unique, not only are our fingerprints, our irises and our ear folds unlike
anyone else’s – our way of walking is very distinctive, our handwriting, our
voice patterns. This is our
individuality showing through.
An original work is original in
two ways:
- It looks fresh and new, it gives you a different perspective on something, a new idea.
- It is very distinctive to the individual who made it.
I used to carry 6” squares of navy
linen with me when travelling and needles threaded
with strands of embroidery floss (white) – every one I stayed with I asked to
stitch something on the square.
What shall I stitch?
Anything.
What if
I’ve never stitched before?
Just remember to go up and down on the same
side and you’ll be all right.
At the end of the trip I looked at
the squares – they were all different, not only that but they all had some
characteristics of the maker. I controlled only 2 variables: the size and color
of the cloth, and the color and thickness of the thread.
Their individuality came
through. You can do this! Try it! Set a
few constants: size of piece, amount of fabric etc…choose things you really
like!
The best way to find your own original
voice is by “singing”!! You won’t find
it by thinking about it – even though, as you know, I’m a great lover of
cogitation.
Don’t go to any workshop where the
teacher is teaching a specific pattern – if you want to do something original
and different from everyone else. If all
around you are making the same thing, you’re in the wrong place!! (as Kipling would have said....)
How d’you recognize what is
original? Set yourself a test – open any
catalogue from a high quality art quilt show and find the 3 most individual and
original pieces and the 3 most derivative ones.
Then sit down and Analyze. Some
of the things you might come up with are:
I’ve never seen this before vs. I’ve seen this
100 times.
This looks like X’s work vs this
doesn’t look like any work I’ve seen.
Or even:
This looks like Xs work…but no, on
closer examination, the artist has done something quite different: they’ve
taken X’s starting point and gone beyond.
I really like this idea, it's so intriguing and I want to see more...
Think about mystery/crime novels –
I know many of us enjoy these!! Think
about the ones that are the most interesting versus the ones you know to be pot
boilers – i.e. written to a formula.
The latter are predictable, the characters are wooden, they talk in
clichés (I’m allergic to clichés!) and so on.
Now, back to your art work: have you solved a problem in a predictable
way? Is your sky blue, your grass green
and your tree trunks brown? It’s
probably be done before!! Have you taken a small unit that is very like a Big
Name's unit and done all the usual things with it that the Big Name did 10 years
ago? If you really like that unit – then
set yourself the task of coming up with 50 more things you can do with it that
the Big Name never even thought of!!
Originality comes from going
beyond the predictable, coming up with a new way of looking at flowers, or
puppy dogs…or babies. Remember those
photographs of babies all covered in flowers that appeared a few years
ago? How fresh and new they were when we
first saw them?
Are they still as fresh and
new?
Look at combinations ….see which
things are often combined…and change it!
Maybe the good guy is the ugly one
we all dislike and the baddie is the charmer!
A famous writer I once met told us he looked through the newspapers every day and collected strange little stories that he could later use as a kernel for his plots. Just a few lines of somebody's odd behaviour would set him to thinking. Keep your eyes open for strange little visual stories as you go about your daily life. How could they be expanded into an art piece?
I'm sure there is LOTS more to be said on this topic - so please do send me your thoughts.....
I'll keep on cogitating!
And, if you have been, thanks for reading! Elizabeth
Posts
8 comments:
Elizabeth, your cogitations always get me thinking! ;-) Thanks!
I have some random ponderings in response:
If things produced in a workshop/class are never to be shown/entered in exhibits, why do they HAVE to be original? Aren't you in the class to learn something? So it should not matter whether or not what the things you produce in a class are original or not as long as you are learning what you wanted to learn.
Isn't it true to that to find your "voice" you have to "do the work?" Well, what's wrong with starting with that unoriginal thing you created in a workshop and when you get home, THEN you take what you learned and start making work over and over and over until it becomes your own.
Everyone is on a journey with their art. To deride a particular piece in an artist's journey because it may be similar to another's at this particular point in the journey, is to throw a rock into an artist's path. Wouldn't a better response be to judge each piece on the artistic merit and then say, "good job, but what you going to do next to bring out even more of your individuality?" I think a sure fire way to stifle creativity is make everyone think that they have to do some extensive Google research to make sure absolutely no one has ever done something even remotely like it before since the beginning of time. If you have an idea - just go for, is my thinking.
It's like your simple squares of fabric, a person starts with your "pattern/rules" but still their own self comes though. If you asked a group of artists to continue this exercise every day for the year. I'd bet that you'd really be able to see the individuality come through, but also that you might see some similarities would come through, too, because we all live in the same world and are inspired by the same seasons. We're all human and can't help but look at things in a human way.
Elizabeth, your cogitations always get me thinking! ;-) Thanks!
I have some random ponderings in response:
If things produced in a workshop/class are never to be shown/entered in exhibits, why do they HAVE to be original? Aren't you in the class to learn something? So it should not matter whether or not what the things you produce in a class are original or not as long as you are learning what you wanted to learn.
Isn't it true to that to find your "voice" you have to "do the work?" Well, what's wrong with starting with that unoriginal thing you created in a workshop and when you get home, THEN you take what you learned and start making work over and over and over until it becomes your own.
Everyone is on a journey with their art. To deride a particular piece in an artist's journey because it may be similar to another's at this particular point in the journey, is to throw a rock into an artist's path. Wouldn't a better response be to judge each piece on the artistic merit and then say, "good job, but what you going to do next to bring out even more of your individuality?" I think a sure fire way to stifle creativity is make everyone think that they have to do some extensive Google research to make sure absolutely no one has ever done something even remotely like it before since the beginning of time. If you have an idea - just go for, is my thinking.
It's like your simple squares of fabric, a person starts with your "pattern/rules" but still their own self comes though. If you asked a group of artists to continue this exercise every day for the year. I'd bet that you'd really be able to see the individuality come through, but also that you might see some similarities would come through, too, because we all live in the same world and are inspired by the same seasons. We're all human and can't help but look at things in a human way.
Thank you for your nice long comment Keepers!
As to whether or not what you do in a workshop should be original - I would say it depends on the workshop...if it's one where you're learning a specific technique then following the example would make sense. What I'm suggesting is that it might be difficult to find your own voice and be original and individual if you just take a lot of "make it like me" workshops - better to get the techniques you need - then either go it alone, or aim for workshops that support individual work.
And yes, absolutely - jearn a technique and make it your own by making many examples. I would suggest just making tops initially - then when you have quite a few, review them for originality.
What I'm finding in my abstract classes is that even given specific parameters, individuality comes through fairly quickly - perhaps not the very first try at an exercise, but not long after - if you persist!!
I've been making some tiny pieces that I mat (5" x 7" matted to 8" x 10") for sale in a couple of small town galleries and will shortly be introducing to a new gift/antique/collectibles shop in my tiny rural hamlet. Most are based on photos taken in the area, and are my impressions. This is a part of the country where quilts are for beds, so even if I adhere to the "blue-sky-green-grass" method of landscapes, many people have never seen this sort of thing before. The pieces are priced to sell for gifts, and created to strike a chord in the viewer. I could create pieces with blue grass and green skies...purple cows and chartreuse hay bales...but then what? I likely wouldn't have an audience for them. I'm caught -- because I want to branch out, go deeper, find that kernel of true originality deep inside...hence I'm on the waiting list for your Master Class...in the hopes it will push me out of my comfort zone into that terrifying place where I'll have to travel hours to get to a major city that might show my work. I enjoy making pieces that bring a smile to the viewer and earn me a few dollars. On the other hand, I don't want to get bored with my work and I can see that happening before too long. I will likely go kicking and screaming out of my Comfort Zone...and hope to goodness it will be worth it in the end!
Here! Here! A well needed post in today's world of art quilting! One thing that you once said to me that really stuck - art quilters can be a bit incestuous. It frustrates me. I totally get why it happens. Its a lot easier to be inspired by a quilt that you think looks gorgeous (and got gorgeous reviews) than to be courageous enough to come up with your own style. I think the easiest way to find your own original voice - is to let go of the need for outside validation. (easy for me to say right? LOL)
On a side note - OMG - I'm sooo tired of the quilters who are out there trying to brand themselves - like they're pop stars or something. Lordy - just get over yourself and create!
Hello Margaret ! Thank you for your comment.
With your great sense of humor, you're going to succeed in being original, I can tell!!!
I think it's fine to have a "for sale" line, some relaxing work that isn't really serious and brings a smile to people's faces...the important thing is not to confuse that with being creative or original - for it can't define your art as yours. But it's really nice just to relax into making something like that - and - if it pays for the materials for you to be more adventurous, that's great!!
This post goes right along with what you encourage your abstract class to do. It's been many years since I tried doing art that wasn't "sweet", but your class is making it possible to be more creative again. It's been revitalizing. Don't stop encouraging and showing us how to break away from our tried and true formulas.
Thank you so much for your encouraging comment Judith!! One should aim for real beauty in one's art not a trite sugary shallow facsimile thereof!!!
onward and upward
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