We all need inspiration. That's my first takeaway. And inspiration is unavoidable regardless of what we do. When I read my early writings it was a shameless rip off of the TV shows and movies I watched when I was 8. As I grew older, my writing began to mimic the works of the writers I was devouring: Stephen King (his interior monologues were great), Ray Bradbury (his knack for taking us from the real to the surreal and horrifying in just a few sentences amazed me), and Clive Barker (for his sheer creativity and power of imagination).
However, the more I wrote (and read consequently) the more my own "original" voice and style began to emerge. I couldn't help but be influenced or inspired by the authors I devoured as a kid.
Had I read Louis L'amour westerns, his works would have seeped into my writing. This, I believe, is unavoidable. It's all how we have to start. After all, as one professor said, "We aren't born with ideas."
We all have to start somewhere. The key, I believe, is not where we start but how we develop our own styles and thoughts and morals. Those, of course, will be re-mixes of the styles and thoughts and morals of others. That's how live works. That's what is so amazing about it.
It's kind of like this fact - every book that has every been written in English - from Shakespeare or Dante up to J.K. Rowling and Nicholas Sparks - is just the different combinations of the same 26 letters.
I love the research that he does on all of the people and authors he has been supposedly "ripping off" since he began writing his black out poems. This reminds me an awesome idea from one of his chapters. He dubs the idea, "Climb Your Family Tree." What Kleon means by this is to find the two or three people who have most influenced you. Then find the two or three people who most influenced them (now you'll be up to around 12 people who really have influenced you). Then find the two or three people who influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced you. Well, you get the idea.
I think this is such a rich way to not only discover your influences, but it would be a great way to do some very interesting research on topics that are totally relevant and vital to you.
I think Kleon's Black Out Poetry IS totally original. Yes, it borrows some concepts and ideas from other authors and their works, but he borrowed it unintentionally. It's not like he was Led Zeppelin, intentionally trying to mimic someone.
I think it's interesting that Kleon discovers that his work - which he thought at first was totally unoriginal and unlike anything he'd ever read - was really not all that original. It fits in well with a sub genre of poetry that uses the words or writings of other people to make something original.
The older we get the more we realize this to be true. When I was in graduate school I quickly realized two things. First, no one really has any totally original ideas. They are all built up on works and ideas previously published. Second, no matter what belief you have or truth you accept, someone somewhere has already thought of a legitimate (and very well supported) argument to it.
Initially I found this stifling. But after I got used to this, I actually felt more freedom than ever before. It's like a weight was lifted. I realized I didn't have to invent the wheel again or do something totally original. I could do something unique based off of the ideas of others.
And that is exactly what I did with my thesis, which was a multi-genre research paper/creative non-fiction braided memoir of my grandmother. Yes. I know that's a mouthful. But that's what it is.
I took existing pieces I had previously written (personal essays, memoirs, prose poems) and then wrote now material (poems, personal essays, fiction) and then added in other materials (pieces my grandmother had written and published, interviews with family members, creative nonfiction pieces from their points of view) and braided them all together.
The graduate office actually had to re-write the style manual to accommodate my thesis (for example, how do you embed an original poem inside a 100 page memoir?). But the more I have come to read in this field, the more I discovered my work was not the first of its kind. In fact, Tom Romano has published a book (years before my thesis came out) about multi-genre research papers. He, in turn, was influenced by the book "The Life and Times of Billy the Kid," which the more I read about it, the more it sounds just like what I did with my thesis. Yet, I had never ever head of this book or even Tom Romano before writing my thesis!
It's interesting to dispute between respect and love for classic works of art. Drawing from classic works is not a negaitve. Work with what inspies you. Everyone does, Why shouldn't you?
This makes me wonder who I copying. Who am I replicating? Who influences me in my day to day life? Who is copying me right now? I wonder if I have impacted someone and caused a chain reacton inadvertantly.
I really enjoyed your last statement. You never Know who you are copying from. Even when you do not think you are copying someone, you might accidentally use something that is already been done. It is really interesting to think of that. I wonder who I have copied from.
I keep thinking about that same concept in all of the videos I've watched the last couple days. Nothing is really original. If somebody is upset that their ideas are being taken, they need to realize that the ideas being taken most likely aren't original to them. It could be a slap in the face for some, but its true, and it becomes more true as time goes on.
i agree that people just need to accept that their ideas are going to be used by other people. Really when you think about it, they probably "stole" their idea as well. Why are they the only ones who are allowed to get their ideas from other people?
I think that with knowing that all ideas aren't original it opens up a freedom for creativity. If you constantly want to be original you can't be successful. Once you are comfortable stealing ideas it opens up way more possibilities.
It is said in our book as well. Nothing is original because most of the time it is already been done. It is kind of hard to make an idea original. I also agree with Hunter!! Everything is is stolen, start be creative!!!
I think instead of being offended, people should be flattered when someone takes their idea. After all, the idea probably wasn't "original" in the first place.
I like what Steve Jobs said. It isn't about coming up with a new idea that hopefully everybody will like. It's all about taking components of things that are already vastly popular, and combine them into something new. It increases the possibility of success. Especially as an "artist." If you're a crappy artist, your gonna be living in the streets. That applies to everything in life.
But it's very tricky to build upon ideas that are already great. How far can you alter an idea before it crumbles and is no long recognizable? You'll have to alter it enough to not come off as a blantent idea theif. It's afine line that not many can walk.
I like how he says that artists collect. They are not hoarders as they only collect the things that they love. They then use these collection for inspiration. They do not just deliberately steal them to steal. They take the ideas to add to their collection of ideas. The trick that real artists need to remember is to put a spin on the project to make it their own, not just another copy of the original.
It is very interesting to see how the "original" ideas people come up with today can be mapped out so much. You can see that the ideas can actually go back for hundreds of years. You can see this in more than just art also. For example, look at the phones. Before the iPhones were inspired with Blackberry, Blackberry came from the Razor, and so on.
I think it is kind of sad how he says there is no good or bad art anymore. There is only art that is worth stealing and art that is not. It seems to be true nowadays though. Art does not seem to really be looked at much anymore for its actual skill. I think we look at art more for its simplicity now more than its complexity. For example, I went to an art museum this year in my art class, and one of the permanent pieces in the exhibit was literally a piece of notebook paper with some kind of smudge or spill on it. Is that really good art because I do not think it is.
I agree that it is sad to see art fade as it has. I think, though, that the appreciation for art has just shifted. I think that poetry and music has taken over as the main form of art. I have read poetry and listened to music that I would consider really good, and really bad. But paintings and sculptures, I haven't seen anything that I don't think is good because it is all beyond my capabilities. The way that our generation has been brought up, a majority of people don't have the eye to appreciate art like they used to.
I loved seeing the relationship between Kleon's Black Out Poetry newspaper thing and all of the people who had done something like it before. It was crazy that his idea that he had thought was original could actually be traced back about 250 years. Even though he said that his idea wasn't original, I don't remember him giving any examples from other people that did the same exact thing. He stole this idea in the right way by transforming it.
I agree with this in the fact he still put an original twist on an unoriginal idea. What makes it even better in his case is the fact that he was totally unaware of the other projects out there when he created the black out poetry. So the idea was still original in his own mind, and that counts for a lot.
I like how Austin Kleon researches and find the people that he was unknowingly stealing from. He embraced it and it's not something most people would be able to do. He also used that to add into his genetics idea. He uses his own work with remixes of others works and makes it his own, it's unique and kind of inspiring.
It would be so cool to research the sources that I draw my inspriation from when I create some thing. Almost like tracing a family tree of Ideas back to times before you were even born.
I agree with that too. He didn't like try to cover it up so that it was only his idea to get credit for, but he researched it and learned all about its history. It probably meant a lot more to him after that too.
Knowing all of the history probably influenced him even more than when he originally started. It showed him more ways to make poetry out of newspapers. Embracing the fact that ideas aren't original opens your mind to creativity.
I agree with cameron, I think it would be cool to see where we have learned things, for example sayings that we have passed down as families, or art like the author is saying.
I liked when he talked about how you should steal things from everyone that you meet. Like if you had a speaker that you were listening to, you could just take the part that resonated with you the most and apply it to your life. You should collect a bunch of small pieces that are going to end up making you what you are.
Taking bits and pieces from everyone you meet may be a bit of a stretch, but taking bits and pieces from everyone who has impacted you is huge. I would like to say that I have taken positives from Mr. Lingen, Mr. Froiland, Mr. Hickman, really all the great teachers that I have had. If I do become a teacher, and I am able to replicate any of them in any way, I will be a rockstar.
I thought it was crazy how many times his black out poetry has been copied. It wasn't just once, or twice. A lot of people have taken the idea and made it their own. It's obvious that the best works today are copies, or variations of popular works from the past. If it isn't broken, don't fix it I suppose.
He said that copying is not flattery, but transforming something is, and I think that that is a very good point. If you just copy something just like it is, it probably doesn't really mean much to you. But if you take some main ideas from it and make it better and your own, then you probably have a deep and personal connection to it, which would be flattering for whoever did it before you.
1. "Imitation is not flattery." I like this. It shows that anyone can copy another idea but it takes real artistry to take it and make it into a new creation. If you really like something you will know how to manipulate it into something better. I personally think that it means more to what you are copying if you change it versus just copying it.
2.I think the part of the video where it talks about taking something away from everyone of the speakers should be something we do with all people that we interact with in our lives. If you take good ideas and good things that other people do and apply them to yourself and to your ideas you're going to be just as good and have ideas that are just as good. It's an easy way to better yourself and to become more like the people you like.
3. I think that it is very important for people to build off of other people's ideas. If we all tried to create original ideas we wouldn't have the ability to create amazing things. If the creators of the internet thought that they shouldn't have anything to do with computers we wouldn't have what we have today. If people didn't build off of old social networks like myspace and facebook we wouldn't have twitter and tumblr.
I agree with that point that we need to build off of other people's ideas. The combination of good things creates things that we could probably never create by ourselves. Everyone has their strong suit and also things that they are not good at. So if we put together everyones strengths, we can create awesome things.
I agree with your second statement. You take things that have successful and use it for your own, you have a higher chance of also being successful. It's stealing to make yourself better.
"Art is theft," -Pablo Picasso. I believe art is taking ones idea, using it with another ideas, and adding your own twist into it. No idea is original anymore, it seems like any idea in the world has already been thought of. You can make your own art by using others and adding your own creativity into it. It's all about stealing right.
I like the idea of who you are is a mashup of what you choose to be. The only thing you can’t really choose in life is who your family is. Other than that, you are in control of what you wear, what music you listen to, who your friends are, ect. Those all factor into the kind of person you are.
I also like how like how he says artists collect selectively. Humans naturally keep things that means something to us or things that stick out to us. I think we keep those things to look back on for inspiration later.
I believe that we already do steal things from almost everyone we meet, even if we don’t realize it. For example, we all imitate the ways each other dresses. I guess I don’t know about anyone else, but if we see an outfit I like in a magazine or something, I go through my closet and try to put together the same looking thing, but with my own pieces of clothing. Also, I start to talk like the people I’m surrounded by. I pick up on certain phrases they say and without even realizing it I’m saying them too. Those might not be the best examples, but I think it’s little things like that that we all steal or imitate from each other.
I took away transformation is flattery. If you steal something and you change it to make it your own instead of imitating what the person you stole it from did then it is has your voice and is made unique. You can make something original by transforming it so much that it is barely recognizable. Your own voice and the changes you make are what makes it different from what others did. Kleon and the example of his book is completely original because it is different than what the people he stole from used it for. His book is original because he transformed the idea he stole rather than imitate it.
The second part I believe is that nothing is original. If we didn't have inspiration and some good art to steal from than we would not be making much of anything. People don't always want to be original because change and new things are often falling outside of their comfort zone. The things we steal are often things we believe are worth stealing. How would we know what we like if it was never there for us to see.
The third was that artist only collect the things that they really love. The artist is a collector. We take the things we find worth stealing and keep them for later. If we save a bank of inspiration and good art that we can easily take from and change to work with the project we are assembling we can create much easier. Like Steve jobs said in the video "it comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done." The best way to make a good remix is to use a little bit of everything that you know and love.
I enjoyed what he said about building your own creative lineage. It would be interesting to see who has influenced me, and to find out who influenced them.
I also agree with what the author said when he said that nothing is original, I don't think people should get really upset when people borrow their ideas, because chances are that they borrowed someone else's ideas as well.
I think that some of the greatest pieces of art have come from something that they borrowed. I think that everything is borrowed to some degree, nothing is original.
Takeaway #1: I really like the idea that stealing is like a sign respect. His very first story about the composer had a great line. “You respect but I love.” What an amazing line. If you love something revamp it and make it your own. Look at the Star Wars it took many things from previous videos. It is an awesome mash up.
Takeaway #2: A lot of people cannot take the time to appreciate other people’s work. All they say is that they copied someone else and that it is not right. How do they know it is not right? If they took the time to look around them they would see so many places that people have copied. You can look at music, movies, and what people say on a daily basis and still be able to see them copying.
Takeaway #3: It only takes one idea to branch to many others. Think of a tree. The trunk is the original broad idea. The branches are the narrower ideas by many other people. Then the leaves are people who are getting ideas from the other ideas. It is an interesting idea!
Always be looking through other artists work. See what they accomplished and see what they failed. You can use either to make into something you are doing. You can steal it to make it better.
I think instead of people not using the ideas of others for fear of being criticized for not being "original", I think more people should use the ideas of others. Because someone might have the right idea for something, but with a little tweaking it might become perfect. Just think where we would be if scientists didn't use the ideas from others.
I'm sure if we took the time to really look at things around us, we would see that nothing is original anymore. But why do we act like it's a bad thing?
Takeaway 1: Up until watching this video, it never really dawned on me how all great work, is ultimately both stolen and improved upon. A great modern example of this theory, would be Google. Google was not the first widely successful search engine, Yahoo was. However, Larry Page the founder of Google, looked at both the failures and successes of Yahoo and merely improved upon them. Google and Yahoo are essentially the same product, however Google is much more widely relied upon. Takeaway 2: This video also made me question what truly defines originality. Everything is borrowed and improved upon in some degree, great artists are influenced by great artists. Takeaway 3: Whether you look at a great piece of writing or beautifully crafted song lyrics, there will always be some sort emotional influence associated with the art. This also bears the idea that we steal from our emotions as well as our surroundings.
Well I had put this up earlier...obviously it didn't go through for some reason. I might have forgotten the "prove your a person" part. 1.) I love what he says about the difference between imitation and transformation. One is about making a likeness of something you enjoy, while the other is about changing the thing you enjoy into something you love. 2.) As we've said over and over again, nothing is original. Your own thoughts probably aren't. I'm sure that somewhere along the lines of human existence, someone else has had the same thoughts as you. It's what you do about the things you think and how you act on them to make them better. 3.) Just because things are similar, doesn't mean they aren't creative and new. Sure, you may be taking someone else's ideas, but you're taking them to a place they've never been before. You're making it your own and no one will ever do it exactly like you. It may not be original, but your idea is an individual.
We all need inspiration. That's my first takeaway. And inspiration is unavoidable regardless of what we do. When I read my early writings it was a shameless rip off of the TV shows and movies I watched when I was 8. As I grew older, my writing began to mimic the works of the writers I was devouring: Stephen King (his interior monologues were great), Ray Bradbury (his knack for taking us from the real to the surreal and horrifying in just a few sentences amazed me), and Clive Barker (for his sheer creativity and power of imagination).
ReplyDeleteHowever, the more I wrote (and read consequently) the more my own "original" voice and style began to emerge. I couldn't help but be influenced or inspired by the authors I devoured as a kid.
Had I read Louis L'amour westerns, his works would have seeped into my writing. This, I believe, is unavoidable. It's all how we have to start. After all, as one professor said, "We aren't born with ideas."
We all have to start somewhere. The key, I believe, is not where we start but how we develop our own styles and thoughts and morals. Those, of course, will be re-mixes of the styles and thoughts and morals of others. That's how live works. That's what is so amazing about it.
It's kind of like this fact - every book that has every been written in English - from Shakespeare or Dante up to J.K. Rowling and Nicholas Sparks - is just the different combinations of the same 26 letters.
I love the research that he does on all of the people and authors he has been supposedly "ripping off" since he began writing his black out poems. This reminds me an awesome idea from one of his chapters. He dubs the idea, "Climb Your Family Tree." What Kleon means by this is to find the two or three people who have most influenced you. Then find the two or three people who most influenced them (now you'll be up to around 12 people who really have influenced you). Then find the two or three people who influenced the people who influenced the people who influenced you. Well, you get the idea.
ReplyDeleteI think this is such a rich way to not only discover your influences, but it would be a great way to do some very interesting research on topics that are totally relevant and vital to you.
I think Kleon's Black Out Poetry IS totally original. Yes, it borrows some concepts and ideas from other authors and their works, but he borrowed it unintentionally. It's not like he was Led Zeppelin, intentionally trying to mimic someone.
ReplyDeleteI think it's interesting that Kleon discovers that his work - which he thought at first was totally unoriginal and unlike anything he'd ever read - was really not all that original. It fits in well with a sub genre of poetry that uses the words or writings of other people to make something original.
The older we get the more we realize this to be true. When I was in graduate school I quickly realized two things. First, no one really has any totally original ideas. They are all built up on works and ideas previously published. Second, no matter what belief you have or truth you accept, someone somewhere has already thought of a legitimate (and very well supported) argument to it.
Initially I found this stifling. But after I got used to this, I actually felt more freedom than ever before. It's like a weight was lifted. I realized I didn't have to invent the wheel again or do something totally original. I could do something unique based off of the ideas of others.
And that is exactly what I did with my thesis, which was a multi-genre research paper/creative non-fiction braided memoir of my grandmother. Yes. I know that's a mouthful. But that's what it is.
I took existing pieces I had previously written (personal essays, memoirs, prose poems) and then wrote now material (poems, personal essays, fiction) and then added in other materials (pieces my grandmother had written and published, interviews with family members, creative nonfiction pieces from their points of view) and braided them all together.
The graduate office actually had to re-write the style manual to accommodate my thesis (for example, how do you embed an original poem inside a 100 page memoir?). But the more I have come to read in this field, the more I discovered my work was not the first of its kind. In fact, Tom Romano has published a book (years before my thesis came out) about multi-genre research papers. He, in turn, was influenced by the book "The Life and Times of Billy the Kid," which the more I read about it, the more it sounds just like what I did with my thesis. Yet, I had never ever head of this book or even Tom Romano before writing my thesis!
It's interesting to dispute between respect and love for classic works of art. Drawing from classic works is not a negaitve. Work with what inspies you. Everyone does, Why shouldn't you?
ReplyDeleteThis makes me wonder who I copying. Who am I replicating? Who influences me in my day to day life? Who is copying me right now? I wonder if I have impacted someone and caused a chain reacton inadvertantly.
I agree with your second statement. Who am I copying or getting my ideas from? It would be interesting to look into that for yourself.
DeleteI really enjoyed your last statement. You never Know who you are copying from. Even when you do not think you are copying someone, you might accidentally use something that is already been done. It is really interesting to think of that. I wonder who I have copied from.
DeleteI agree with the second statement. What if we are all copying others without knowing it? How would we ever know if we were?
DeleteI keep thinking about that same concept in all of the videos I've watched the last couple days. Nothing is really original. If somebody is upset that their ideas are being taken, they need to realize that the ideas being taken most likely aren't original to them. It could be a slap in the face for some, but its true, and it becomes more true as time goes on.
ReplyDeletei agree that people just need to accept that their ideas are going to be used by other people. Really when you think about it, they probably "stole" their idea as well. Why are they the only ones who are allowed to get their ideas from other people?
DeleteI think that with knowing that all ideas aren't original it opens up a freedom for creativity. If you constantly want to be original you can't be successful. Once you are comfortable stealing ideas it opens up way more possibilities.
DeleteI agree with Hunter, if we start off by stealing ideas, i think that we could eventually gain our own "voice" or style.
DeleteIt is said in our book as well. Nothing is original because most of the time it is already been done. It is kind of hard to make an idea original. I also agree with Hunter!! Everything is is stolen, start be creative!!!
DeleteI think instead of being offended, people should be flattered when someone takes their idea. After all, the idea probably wasn't "original" in the first place.
DeleteI like what Steve Jobs said. It isn't about coming up with a new idea that hopefully everybody will like. It's all about taking components of things that are already vastly popular, and combine them into something new. It increases the possibility of success. Especially as an "artist." If you're a crappy artist, your gonna be living in the streets. That applies to everything in life.
ReplyDeleteBut it's very tricky to build upon ideas that are already great. How far can you alter an idea before it crumbles and is no long recognizable? You'll have to alter it enough to not come off as a blantent idea theif.
DeleteIt's afine line that not many can walk.
I like how he says that artists collect. They are not hoarders as they only collect the things that they love. They then use these collection for inspiration. They do not just deliberately steal them to steal. They take the ideas to add to their collection of ideas. The trick that real artists need to remember is to put a spin on the project to make it their own, not just another copy of the original.
ReplyDeleteIt is very interesting to see how the "original" ideas people come up with today can be mapped out so much. You can see that the ideas can actually go back for hundreds of years. You can see this in more than just art also. For example, look at the phones. Before the iPhones were inspired with Blackberry, Blackberry came from the Razor, and so on.
I think it is kind of sad how he says there is no good or bad art anymore. There is only art that is worth stealing and art that is not. It seems to be true nowadays though. Art does not seem to really be looked at much anymore for its actual skill. I think we look at art more for its simplicity now more than its complexity. For example, I went to an art museum this year in my art class, and one of the permanent pieces in the exhibit was literally a piece of notebook paper with some kind of smudge or spill on it. Is that really good art because I do not think it is.
I agree that it is sad to see art fade as it has. I think, though, that the appreciation for art has just shifted. I think that poetry and music has taken over as the main form of art. I have read poetry and listened to music that I would consider really good, and really bad. But paintings and sculptures, I haven't seen anything that I don't think is good because it is all beyond my capabilities. The way that our generation has been brought up, a majority of people don't have the eye to appreciate art like they used to.
DeleteI really like your cell phone analogy, technology to me is ultimately the art of improving through innovation.
DeleteI loved seeing the relationship between Kleon's Black Out Poetry newspaper thing and all of the people who had done something like it before. It was crazy that his idea that he had thought was original could actually be traced back about 250 years. Even though he said that his idea wasn't original, I don't remember him giving any examples from other people that did the same exact thing. He stole this idea in the right way by transforming it.
ReplyDeleteI agree with this in the fact he still put an original twist on an unoriginal idea. What makes it even better in his case is the fact that he was totally unaware of the other projects out there when he created the black out poetry. So the idea was still original in his own mind, and that counts for a lot.
DeleteI thought it was so cool that he did all of the research to find that; its crazy to think it started from George Washington's neighbor! :P
DeleteI like how Austin Kleon researches and find the people that he was unknowingly stealing from. He embraced it and it's not something most people would be able to do. He also used that to add into his genetics idea. He uses his own work with remixes of others works and makes it his own, it's unique and kind of inspiring.
ReplyDeleteIt would be so cool to research the sources that I draw my inspriation from when I create some thing. Almost like tracing a family tree of Ideas back to times before you were even born.
DeleteI agree with that too. He didn't like try to cover it up so that it was only his idea to get credit for, but he researched it and learned all about its history. It probably meant a lot more to him after that too.
DeleteKnowing all of the history probably influenced him even more than when he originally started. It showed him more ways to make poetry out of newspapers. Embracing the fact that ideas aren't original opens your mind to creativity.
DeleteI agree with cameron, I think it would be cool to see where we have learned things, for example sayings that we have passed down as families, or art like the author is saying.
DeleteI liked when he talked about how you should steal things from everyone that you meet. Like if you had a speaker that you were listening to, you could just take the part that resonated with you the most and apply it to your life. You should collect a bunch of small pieces that are going to end up making you what you are.
ReplyDeleteTaking bits and pieces from everyone you meet may be a bit of a stretch, but taking bits and pieces from everyone who has impacted you is huge. I would like to say that I have taken positives from Mr. Lingen, Mr. Froiland, Mr. Hickman, really all the great teachers that I have had. If I do become a teacher, and I am able to replicate any of them in any way, I will be a rockstar.
DeleteI thought it was crazy how many times his black out poetry has been copied. It wasn't just once, or twice. A lot of people have taken the idea and made it their own. It's obvious that the best works today are copies, or variations of popular works from the past. If it isn't broken, don't fix it I suppose.
ReplyDeleteHe said that copying is not flattery, but transforming something is, and I think that that is a very good point. If you just copy something just like it is, it probably doesn't really mean much to you. But if you take some main ideas from it and make it better and your own, then you probably have a deep and personal connection to it, which would be flattering for whoever did it before you.
ReplyDelete1. "Imitation is not flattery." I like this. It shows that anyone can copy another idea but it takes real artistry to take it and make it into a new creation. If you really like something you will know how to manipulate it into something better. I personally think that it means more to what you are copying if you change it versus just copying it.
ReplyDelete2.I think the part of the video where it talks about taking something away from everyone of the speakers should be something we do with all people that we interact with in our lives. If you take good ideas and good things that other people do and apply them to yourself and to your ideas you're going to be just as good and have ideas that are just as good. It's an easy way to better yourself and to become more like the people you like.
3. I think that it is very important for people to build off of other people's ideas. If we all tried to create original ideas we wouldn't have the ability to create amazing things. If the creators of the internet thought that they shouldn't have anything to do with computers we wouldn't have what we have today. If people didn't build off of old social networks like myspace and facebook we wouldn't have twitter and tumblr.
I agree with that point that we need to build off of other people's ideas. The combination of good things creates things that we could probably never create by ourselves. Everyone has their strong suit and also things that they are not good at. So if we put together everyones strengths, we can create awesome things.
DeleteI agree with your second statement. You take things that have successful and use it for your own, you have a higher chance of also being successful. It's stealing to make yourself better.
Delete"Art is theft," -Pablo Picasso. I believe art is taking ones idea, using it with another ideas, and adding your own twist into it. No idea is original anymore, it seems like any idea in the world has already been thought of. You can make your own art by using others and adding your own creativity into it. It's all about stealing right.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of who you are is a mashup of what you choose to be. The only thing you can’t really choose in life is who your family is. Other than that, you are in control of what you wear, what music you listen to, who your friends are, ect. Those all factor into the kind of person you are.
ReplyDeleteI also like how like how he says artists collect selectively. Humans naturally keep things that means something to us or things that stick out to us. I think we keep those things to look back on for inspiration later.
I believe that we already do steal things from almost everyone we meet, even if we don’t realize it. For example, we all imitate the ways each other dresses. I guess I don’t know about anyone else, but if we see an outfit I like in a magazine or something, I go through my closet and try to put together the same looking thing, but with my own pieces of clothing. Also, I start to talk like the people I’m surrounded by. I pick up on certain phrases they say and without even realizing it I’m saying them too. Those might not be the best examples, but I think it’s little things like that that we all steal or imitate from each other.
I took away transformation is flattery. If you steal something and you change it to make it your own instead of imitating what the person you stole it from did then it is has your voice and is made unique. You can make something original by transforming it so much that it is barely recognizable. Your own voice and the changes you make are what makes it different from what others did. Kleon and the example of his book is completely original because it is different than what the people he stole from used it for. His book is original because he transformed the idea he stole rather than imitate it.
ReplyDeleteThe second part I believe is that nothing is original. If we didn't have inspiration and some good art to steal from than we would not be making much of anything. People don't always want to be original because change and new things are often falling outside of their comfort zone. The things we steal are often things we believe are worth stealing. How would we know what we like if it was never there for us to see.
The third was that artist only collect the things that they really love. The artist is a collector. We take the things we find worth stealing and keep them for later. If we save a bank of inspiration and good art that we can easily take from and change to work with the project we are assembling we can create much easier. Like Steve jobs said in the video "it comes down to trying to expose yourself to the best things that humans have done." The best way to make a good remix is to use a little bit of everything that you know and love.
I enjoyed what he said about building your own creative lineage. It would be interesting to see who has influenced me, and to find out who influenced them.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with what the author said when he said that nothing is original, I don't think people should get really upset when people borrow their ideas, because chances are that they borrowed someone else's ideas as well.
I think that some of the greatest pieces of art have come from something that they borrowed. I think that everything is borrowed to some degree, nothing is original.
ReplyDeleteI really agree with your thoughts on this, I feel great artists are ultimately influenced by great artists.
DeleteTakeaway #1: I really like the idea that stealing is like a sign respect. His very first story about the composer had a great line. “You respect but I love.” What an amazing line. If you love something revamp it and make it your own. Look at the Star Wars it took many things from previous videos. It is an awesome mash up.
ReplyDeleteTakeaway #2: A lot of people cannot take the time to appreciate other people’s work. All they say is that they copied someone else and that it is not right. How do they know it is not right? If they took the time to look around them they would see so many places that people have copied. You can look at music, movies, and what people say on a daily basis and still be able to see them copying.
Takeaway #3: It only takes one idea to branch to many others. Think of a tree. The trunk is the original broad idea. The branches are the narrower ideas by many other people. Then the leaves are people who are getting ideas from the other ideas. It is an interesting idea!
Always be looking through other artists work. See what they accomplished and see what they failed. You can use either to make into something you are doing. You can steal it to make it better.
ReplyDeleteI think instead of people not using the ideas of others for fear of being criticized for not being "original", I think more people should use the ideas of others. Because someone might have the right idea for something, but with a little tweaking it might become perfect. Just think where we would be if scientists didn't use the ideas from others.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure if we took the time to really look at things around us, we would see that nothing is original anymore. But why do we act like it's a bad thing?
ReplyDeleteTakeaway 1: Up until watching this video, it never really dawned on me how all great work, is ultimately both stolen and improved upon. A great modern example of this theory, would be Google. Google was not the first widely successful search engine, Yahoo was. However, Larry Page the founder of Google, looked at both the failures and successes of Yahoo and merely improved upon them. Google and Yahoo are essentially the same product, however Google is much more widely relied upon.
ReplyDeleteTakeaway 2: This video also made me question what truly defines originality. Everything is borrowed and improved upon in some degree, great artists are influenced by great artists.
Takeaway 3: Whether you look at a great piece of writing or beautifully crafted song lyrics, there will always be some sort emotional influence associated with the art. This also bears the idea that we steal from our emotions as well as our surroundings.
Well I had put this up earlier...obviously it didn't go through for some reason. I might have forgotten the "prove your a person" part.
ReplyDelete1.) I love what he says about the difference between imitation and transformation. One is about making a likeness of something you enjoy, while the other is about changing the thing you enjoy into something you love.
2.) As we've said over and over again, nothing is original. Your own thoughts probably aren't. I'm sure that somewhere along the lines of human existence, someone else has had the same thoughts as you. It's what you do about the things you think and how you act on them to make them better.
3.) Just because things are similar, doesn't mean they aren't creative and new. Sure, you may be taking someone else's ideas, but you're taking them to a place they've never been before. You're making it your own and no one will ever do it exactly like you. It may not be original, but your idea is an individual.