This has certainly been on my mind with the Shepard Fairey case, which I hope he wins. But I do think that he should have credited the free-lance photographer that took the photo (I couldn't care less about the Associated press). Thanks for your opinions . . .
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Reference Materials
I am curious what everyone's opinion on reference materials is. I am specifically talking about the use of other peoples images within art work. We have such a vast array of information at our disposal with the internet and books, it's a simple thing to say "I want to use this photo as a starting point for this portion of a painting." In my mind, this can be both a useful thing and a crutch if we come to depend on it too much. Then there is also the unauthorized use of other peoples images, copy written and non. Where do you draw the line? Do you ask permission? Do you simple make sure that you change the image enough (what is the percentage it has to change, 50% . . .70% . . .), and is a simple change in format enough (from photo to expressive painting?), or does it have to go beyond that? This is a really complex/controversial question and I would love to know what everyone thinks.
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I think it is important, in our growth as artists, to come up with our own concepts, use our own photos(if you need reference)and stay as far away from the possibility of a copyright infringement as possible. My reasoning begins with all the images we come in contact with every day, TV, internet, ideas and concepts we read or hear about through word of mouth. With all this input it becomes a real challenge to come up with any original conceptions. Usually the best we can do is synthesize all this info into our own unique vision that makes critical comparisons seem meaningless and in some cases like simplistic aspersions.
ReplyDeleteI agree w/ u both, and it becomes quite a fine line- copying &/or borrowing- ideas &/or images -from contemporary and historical artists.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny, you mention copyright infringement, Rob.
relative to this conversation:
Lately, I've been studying numerous articles on how Damien Hirst is threatening to sue a 16 yr old over copyright infringement.
Remember, Hirst copies off of his peers and that's a well known fact...
Well, isn't this action a bit extreme?
i think it is.
I'll let you decide, though.
[" Hirst, who has earned £200million during his career, demanded that teenage graffiti artist Cartrain hand over his artworks and the money he had made through sales of the £65 collages on an internet gallery, or face court action over an alleged copyright theft.]
[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1094139/Damien-Hirst-threatened-sue-teenager-alleged-copyright-theft.html]
Here's another link- leads to an article that mentions Shepard Fairey's case, Jeff koons' past case & related items. It is worth a read through.
ReplyDelete[ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-melber/the-ap-hase-no-case-again_b_165068.html ]
Thanks for the input guys. Just to clarify, I'm not talking about directly copying other artists work, simply using photos for academic reference points that are not readily available and only as a starting point to an already established idea, i.e. an african moth (I'm not in Africa, so I can't photograph one), a rare plant, a british phone booth . . .. As an artist, isn't it more important NOT to limit ideas because you can't walk up to them and take a picture without a thousand dollar plane ticket? As to ideas and subject matter, I certainly agree that basing work on someone else's stories (i.e. fairy tales) and ideas is probably a bit contrived and not a bit original but so many great masters did this with mythology, religion and historical events that I have to believe there is some small amount of validity (not that I am placing MY work in that echelon by any stretch of the imagination). Certainly this type of narrative imagery when placed in a contemporary context is somewhat sneered at unless it is presented in the low brow genre, but ultimately I think it is about presenting ideas in a new manner even if they are old ideas.
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