First, there's the question if there really is anything really original? or maybe even before that, how would one define originality? And I guess even, is originality that important? While I do question that, I also do have an answer.
Yes, originality is important. Originality signifies the ability to think of something new. I would say most people can "copy" but not everyone can create a new thing, (that i know creates an elitist mentality ) whether it be in visual art, auditory, whatever....most people with motor skills and a functioning brain, with enough time can recreate something. To create something new though...that takes genius. BUT even that...what does that really mean, what does that entail? What if i take a bit from Picasso, a bit from Hodgkin, a bit from Van Gogh, but its a new composition...is that original? What if I go totally from one artist...is that original? you can tell its "inspired" by Picasso, but if it has my own twist is it original? or is there a percentage? Lets say the work has to be 51% mine...a simple majority. but ... how can you ever determine where that 51% in my head is coming from?
what if I'm inspired from the color of a bench, or the chrome of kitchen appliances, or the look on a friend's face? what is that? is that an original composition, inspired by things that already exist? Am I being too rigid in my qualification of original?
One of my favorite books is THE CREATORS, it describes...the first Autobiography, the first skyscraper, the first portrait.... those are originalities. OR.... are they really only extensions of ideas that already existed. Biographies existed, journalling existed, the following of someone's life by the letters they wrote existed....is it not a logical extension to write a book about one's own self?
I guess a big question is "how do you judge the value or worth of a piece of art?" Things are loved for simplicity and complexity, beauty and horror. Maybe it is so subjective it is meaningless to even pose these questions. If I paint something I like, does it matter at all if anyone else likes it? I guess that depends on my motivation for painting it.
The whole way this started was out of frustration of paintings i'd done that i felt to look like other things. So I thought...."maybe photography is the only original art", thinking that it contains images in a perspective that is so personal, it is only known and perceived in that moment to that photographer...but then immediately I thought "yeah...but...the style is not original"
Maybe my standards for originality are too high. Maybe everything in art is subjective and there is no use in creating standards except for yourself. That seems like a lame cop-out answer...I would be interested in hearing/reading other perspectives.
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