I know a few people seem to think that the pieces that I create are "projects" that crafters are free to interpret/copy/plagiarize ect. I can't stop them, but I'm also free to consider those people lazy assholes. Yes, some of my work contains derivative elements. For example, my postage stamp series uses parts of actual postage stamps. However, that is not an invitation to rip me off, use my titles, or straight up take my ideas after reading about them here or marking them as a favorite on flickr. (Yes, I am paying attention to when comments are made and pieces are marked as favorite, only to see the knock on Etsy off 3 months later).
To put it a simpler way, you don't see me doing a paper readymade L.H.O.O.Q and passing it of as my own.
I'm going to spell this out because some people seem to miss the point, despite the long winded descriptions I write. I don't spend 100 hours on a piece because it's fun or pretty. I do it to tell a story and make a statement. With the Haeckels, it wasn't, "This is cool." It was "I'm going to spend 200 + hours embroidering this as a shaggy dog joke about how a lot of stitchers spend their time, energy, and talent doing someone else's work." I picked an absurdly complex piece to shine a light on the paint by numbers fad.
What I'm saying is, I'm not going to do this even though I could and I love Schiele, because she did it first, and she did it beautifully. I have enough confidence in my own ideas to not feel like I need to copy hers. For me, it would be supremely disrespectful.
So for the time being, I will no longer be showing works in progress on here. I spend a tremendous amount of time from spinning my own fiber to the completed project, and while I'm spending months and months working throughly and thoughtfully, it leaves too much opportunity for hacks to crap out a knock off.
A lot of thought goes into my pieces. I'm confident in calling stealers and toe steppers hacks because if they put in half the thought and effort that I do, they'd be more likely to work on their own ideas.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
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imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, or something. do you think other people copycatting your ideas reduces their value?
ReplyDeleteMostly I think that it's where art and craft diverge. All artists are free to explore what ever subject matter they want. Tons of artists paint bowls of fruit or landscapes or sad clowns. That doesn't mean their stealing from each other, provided they use their own language. However, there is something disingenuous about making an exact replica of this- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hamilton-appealing2.jpg
ReplyDeleteand saying it's my original work. It devalues the original artist's story, motivation, and work.
However, creating a different version of that in a different medium to make a point, like the L.H.O.O.Q, is a different story.
ReplyDeleteand copying someone's work and then selling it as your own is just down right wrong.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree.
ReplyDeleteSo well said. Lainie (of Slow Cloth fame) has a very similar posting over at her Red Thread Studio.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I do now if I have an idea of something I want to make, is do a Google search to try and find out if someone else has already done it or is doing something similar. If so, then I either substantially rework my idea or just don't do it.