RANT: Artistic Appropriation, is anything unique?
We all know the feeling- you’re in a group and you make a hilarious joke but no one hears it… Or so you thought until your attention-grabbing friend repeats it louder and this time the whole group laughs. You stand there in disbelief as your greedy “friend” basks in the glory of your joke.
The art world is comprised of those who make the joke and those who say it louder. In fact, I once heard a proverb that goes, “Art is either revolutionary, or plagiarism.” However, there seems to be a gross unbalance in the contemporary art world: for every one revolutionary, there seem to be six plagiarizers. There exists a fine between homage and piracy; but where exactly that line is drawn remains a mystery to me. If I sign it, it's therefore mine. Right?
We have heard this story of stealing and selling before. From Barbara Kruger (don't you love that Supreme aesthetic?) to Richard Prince. Prince is currently taking heat for his 2014 Gagosian show entitled, “New Portraits,” in which he appropriated (or, as some see it, blatantly copied) photos from Instagrams of lesser-known, but no less talented photographers, Eric McNatt and Donald Graham. He screenshotted the photographers’ works, printed them on canvas and added a comment. He made no real transformations, but instead, passed off these portraits as his own work with no credit given to the rightful owners. When the photographers brought this case to court, Prince refuted that he recontextualized these works, thus they were now his works. Duchamp declared an average urinal a piece of art and thus we have the Fountain. But the question still remains, does bringing a piece into a different venue count as a transformation? Is the context of a piece more important than the content?
From cultures to artwork, those with great social purchase often turn to lesser-known cultures or artists for new ideas. This concept of appropriation is not new, although it has gained some notoriety in the recent years through Kim Kardashian’s cornrows, which she falsely attributed to Bo Derek and other matters of the like. Matters of appropriation are hardly black and white; Dapper Dan, legendary Harlem designer, began a bootleg design business back in the 1980s. His designs appropriated luxury designer brand logos like Gucci and Louis Vuitton. Though the luxury motifs were significant in his pieces, his revolutionary, unprecedented designs made him the designer of Hip-Hop’s golden era. After battling (and losing) many lawsuits with the aforementioned luxury brands, he closed down his Harlem shop. Now, some 24 years later, Gucci has appropriated one of his jacket designs, proving yet again, fashion comes full circle.
However, this was no celebrating matter. After suing and branding Dapper Dan as “low-brow,” and illegitimate, then ripping him off and making a fortune, Dapper Dan was on track to become yet another unfortunate black artist, exploited by the establishment. Until his supporters pushed back and held Gucci’s feet to the fire. Eventually, Dapper Dan agreed to partner with Gucci to create a ~legitimate~ collection for them. (Note the smaller artist and the bigger artist’s mutual plagiarism of one another.)
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he cyclical appropriation between smaller and bigger artists begs the question: is anything even unique? Every word I’ve ever spoken has been spoken, even my deepest most genuine opinions have been muttered before. What makes art any different? How can you be unique when you’ve had thousand of years of artistic creation predate you? Even the joke that your friend stole from you wasn’t your joke, you may have heard someone say it under their breath in a different group of people. You’ve heard it time and time again, “darling, it’s a dog-eat-dog-world,” but we must preserve what authenticity the art world has to offer by accrediting the original creators (or at least trying to). Doing so rewards the creative minds for being revolutionary. I trust the new generation of artists will bring fresh, seminal ideas to the table. That being said, hats off to the “old” art world as we anticipate The NEW Art World’s arrival. ;)
Amanda Lindsay, 17, is a current senior at The Peddie Preparatory School, a boarding school in New Jersey. She is fairly new to the art world, only recently discovered her passion two years ago when an acl injury took her out of soccer. She mainly works in acrylic paint but also co-founded MATTE Magazine and runs a RedBubble shop. She intends to study art in college and is reachable on Instagram: @alindsay.art and email: amanda.lindsay.art@gmail.com.