“Life is Tough, Buy a Helmet”
September 18, 2010
I’ve been pretty busy. Lots of shows, lots of special orders, lots of half-written essays, always something to do or some crisis to overcome. I always seem to be overbooked – stretched and pulled in a hundred different directions not unlike the incredibly compromised pair of spandex or lycra or whatever that material was that just waddled past my booth at the art fair today. She should probably go to Confession – no one should treat fabric with such cruelty without some kind of societal consequence or backlash.
The shows have been busy. Taekwondo is on hold, parenting never ends, kickboxing is on maintenance only for the summer, the roof in the sunroom still needs to be fixed before we fire up the woodstove, there are weddings to endure, family get-togethers to attend, on and on, etc, etc. I am treading water on custom orders and special projects. My larger paintings are selling very well. Consequently, I am spending more time on each painting and little time on other pressing matters. (No, that’s not a “nice problem to have”, having no problems is a nice problem to have.) Everyone’s got problems. People that tell you they have no problems do at least have a major lying problem. A photographer friend of mine who is also a former war correspondent made a comment or maybe it was a general observation to me after we had a discussion about plagiarism in the art fair community. He said “Life’s tough, buy a helmet”. Neither of us remember who said it first- Dennis Miller? George Carlin? Lincoln? (Is there anything funnier than a Lincoln-assassination-combined-with-a-helmet joke?) Something from an old movie? Maybe an inspirational speaker? Whoever it is – it’s a great quote. I’m not stealing it, please don’t come to my studio and call me a plagiarist. I’ll Google it later, but the saying is in the vernacular, so maybe even the almighty Google really doesn’t know either. Similarly the Eagles had a song called “Get Over It”. I think it sums up the “life is tough, buy a helmet” concept nicely.
I’ve been thinking about a lot of things lately. It’s what I do when I’m the hamster on the wheel. I’ve been thinking about plagiarism for the last few days. Specifically when it comes to copying and plagiarism at art fairs and festivals. How is plagiarism determined? I suppose the test would be to see if the average person would think it is plagiarism, and then obviously it would be plagiarism if the average person deemed it to be so. But, then I wondered if that would lead to groups of people succumbing to groupthink (Orwell) or maybe a fairly sinister vigilante mentality? If more people think it’s plagiarism then those that do not, then it must be plagiarism if we use the “any man” test – plain and simple. Reminds me of the democracy metaphor that I heard or read (I don’t remember from whom or when!): The definition of democracy is two lions and a zebra voting on what’s for lunch. I suppose it’s a good thing we live in a republic rather than a democracy, but what about plagiarism? Volumes of all kinds of material and case law stuff work with the issue. Lawyers and CEO’s have a heyday with it. They know the details and they know how to manipulate and push and pull the spandex of plagiarism like a 40-something chick doing a 40lbs bag of kittens and puppies impression right down the middle of an art show.
What does plagiarism (copycats) mean to a fine arts or craft artist?
It means a couple of things, but first a little sidebar: “kudos” to the grade schools, junior highs, high schools, colleges and universities – you have failed miserably at art history, art theory and practice, and art criticism. Some day I am going to hang a hidden microphone in my booth at a show and post the uneducated/under-educated comments from parents to their children, passersby to artists, and more. Our education system has failed at teaching art. Come sit with an artist at a show if you are an art educator that really cares. If you are an art teacher or professor – or better yet, an administrator – you have an open invitation to come sit with me at any show I do in the country. Bring your own Kleenex and beverages.
(On an unrelated note, Miss Manners would keel over from a massive coronary if she heard some of the things said to and about artists in the booths too. Fodder for another essay perhaps.)
Back to plagiarism at art shows and festivals. This is a very important concept to remember: not every person that sells stuff at an art show is an artist and probably shouldn’t be labeled as such, conversely not every artist is able to sell at an art show and they probably shouldn’t be in that venue. Think about that for a moment. It is not for everyone.
Frank Zappa said: “Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.” Who would dare to argue with Frank? He wisely avoided any kind of modifier for the word “art” when he made the statement. Art can be “bad” and it can be “good”. It can be cerebral and highbrow and it can be simple and primitive. There are no hard and fast rules. Frank Zappa knew it, and now you do too.
So we start with nothing and sell art for anywhere from a few to a few thousand dollars. Plagiarism can be big business. A blow to an artist’s pocketbook and their ego. A goldmine for a successful copycat.
Plagiarism is one of the concepts the market of art uses to passively drive up competition. Plagiarism means two things. First, it says to the “copied” artist: Your work is easily copied. Someone else in the market feels they can make what you make at the same or less cost and at a level where the buyer is willing to purchase it. It means someone saw someone else’s style and made the evaluation that they can either do the same style better or cheaper – or both. Without getting into the grindstone of copyrights, patents, and registrations, plagiarism means someone’s work is too simple. Too easy to copy. It is worth someone’s time to plagiarize the work, to steal the idea. What this means to the artist, the true artist – is that the artist must develop a style or idea that is not easily copied or replicated at a similar or lower cost. The artist either needs to step up the quality of the work or lower the cost of the production. Sometimes it’s not even plagiarism, it’s competition. History is full of examples of competition. Art history is also packed with stories of influences and “borrowing” and improving and dismantling and rejuvenating. Everything comes from somewhere. Nothing is 100% original in art.
The other important point that plagiarism makes besides saying an artist’s work is easily copied and the bar needs to be raised is this: it really is the ultimate compliment to the original artist. It is a statement from the copy-er that says “Your work is fantastic, I am willing to take what you have done, risk my reputation, and make work better than yours thanks to your trailblazing. I can take what you started and improve it.” If the work was lousy, who would want to copy it? If the copy-er’s work was lousy, who would want to buy it?
I do what are called “B” list shows in the art show world. I do some “A” list shows as well. But prefer the “B” lister’s overall because generally – (not always by any means, ), but generally there is more interest at the smaller shows on the part of the patrons. They want to see innovation in design, concept, and price. Sometimes at the smaller shows, people are actually waiting outside the booth before the show begins. They are eager to see what the artists are bringing. The artists seem to be more willing to take risks, adopt new styles, try new things. They are less likely to paint themselves in a corner by clinging to their style like the spandex on the lady that walked by in 90 degree heat today. Sometimes the “A” list shows nurture a sense of invincibility, a feeling that one has “made it” and then drop his or her guard. They also are usually (not always) chock full of “safe”, non-threatening, boring, stagnant, interior design-friendly work that is formula-driven with less and less of a sense of artistic vision and more a feeling of stamped out, easily copied designs. The work becomes a product and becomes susceptible to copycats and plagiarism. (Ironically because of a system that expects a standardized, consistent body of work from artists drawn from some of the most unstandardized, inconsistent, dynamic pools of show applicants possible.) The copycat either feels the work is easy and worthwhile to copy or they feel it is of such quality that they want to be involved in the process of making their own interpretation of the work.
Copycats are inevitable because someone will always be worth the while to copy. Sometimes it’s thievery, and sometimes it’s admiration. Their effect can be minimized by innovation, creativity, competition, drive, risk-taking, and overall quality in design and execution. A more educated consumer would give the copycat less leverage in stealing ideas and methods while raising the bar of expectations among the artsts that are at the shows.
Innovative and evolving art encourages copycats to choose something else. The appropriate mix of venues will keep artwork sharp and innovative.
Making and selling art is not easy, copycats are as inevitable as the evolution of art throughout history.
Life is tough, art is always evolving and challenging,
Buy a helmet, lose the spandex.
“Get over it.”
