Live Journal. Series 8. Week 30-5. "Appropriation"

[jacq22]

Appropriation.

Quote.

‘Sherry Levine's After Walker Evans (1981) is a photograph of a Walker Evans photograph. She is challenging the concept of ownership: if she photographed the photograph, whose photograph was it, really? And she is addressing the predominance of male artists in the textbook version of art history. Sherry Levine is a feminist

Comments

[alycewilson]

I've heard it said, "All poets borrow. The best poets steal." Forget who said it, so we can pretend it was me. :)

[the_day_setup]

The reality is, all artists appropriate-- whether consciously or unconsciously. It is impossible to reinvent the entire freakin' wheel every time you create something, and we all operate by rules that we have picked up through brushes with previously-experienced art. There's nothing to feel bad about if you're *consciously* appropriating an element-- as long as you have something to add to what's being said.

Oh, and that "good Xs borrow, great Xs steal" thing has been attributed to just about semi-famous person under the sun, which is the highest irony. :)

I hope you're recovering nicely.