article:

http://www.caspianisdead.com/original1.jpg

In college, my professors talked a lot about Postmodernism. One of the many tenets, according to some, was the refutation of originality in contemporary art. What was replaced in this absence was an acknowledgment of previous ideas to create the object. So thus A is not an original idea because 1+2+3 = A. This angered my fellow classmates. To them, their originality was all they had left in the world, along with some charcoal sketches, landscape paintings and a job at a frame shop. Unlike my classmates, I understood the idea was not an attack on their charcoal sketches but a comment on the advancement of culture. The sharing of information had advanced exponentially since the modern age. Thus any present idea or style could be traced back to its influences; deconstructed into its singular parts. The acknowledgment of said styles was thus in itself a new style. This was not a bad thing, but a product of an advanced society; who likes to think alot. Rather than being the death of art, this particular idea acknowledged past influences in the present situation and allowed artists to openly “borrow, appropriate and steal.” It is still my view, however, the “death of originality” was the end product of a rapid pace of modernism, in which new ideas were claimed every few weeks. Perhaps the Postmodernist’s last great original idea was to call an end to the game. Whatever the case, this is the state current artists are living within and these are the sets of rules some of us have chosen to acknowledge.

The “Graphic Designer's Curse” I talk of is similar to the “Musician's Curse.” The phenomenon in which, during the creation of a song , one could accidentally slip in chords, lyrics, bridges or melodies that are not yours but someone else’s. It happened to my brother once when he showed me a new song, and immediately thought he learned “Three Libras” by A Perfect Circle. When accused of plagiarism, ones initial reaction is “NO,” followed by nasty name calling. The second reaction, when learning of your mistake is “Well I never knew about that before.” This acknowledgment of coincidental similarities is the death of  creation. The "curse of coincidental similarities" is merely an accident explained by postmodern thought. Like most musicians in high school, one begins by learning the songs of others before writing their own. So it is plausible that during the creative process the innumerable notes in ones head mixed with songs heard in the past, will fit together to form a melody which has already been written. The sheer joy of “something fitting together” will cause one to overlook the possibility that it is not original. My brother heard “Three Libras” a while ago, forgot about, and then remembered it when he thought it was his. Innocent mistake? Not to him. To work so hard on an object and then to destroy it because of "coincidental similarities" is devastating. More devastating when your accused of plagiarizing Maynard James Keenan.

I was plagued with the “curse of coincidental similarities” when designing a vinyl cover for a west Philly post punk band Algebra Of Need. It was one of those times, you only see in movies. A artist feverishly at work. Everything was fitting together so well. I think classical music was turned up loud in the background. My eyes were wild. I was smoking, scattering ash on my keyboard. Nothing, sans my apartment catching on fire from dropped ash, could break my concentration. I distinctly remember a choir in my room singing an heavenly chorus when I merged the layers. The design was beginning to take on a life. It was beautiful. I felt like God who touched the hand of Adam and spawned the greatest creation, the universe had ever seen. Afterwards, I leaned back on my chair and gave myself a high five. Jesus God man, your awesome. I hit save and sent it to the guitarist of the band. Two hours later he called, obviously to shower me with praise.

Me: "So did you see the cover?"

Guitarist: “Yeah, it looks like a Kraftwerk album.”

Okay.... Kraftwerk used the same Constructivist style... I can see that...maybe people will praise me for my art history knowledge...fucking right...

Me: "So you like it?"

Guitarist : "No it looks exactly like a Kraftwerk album."

Me: "Fuck...can i just change the colors?"

Guitarist: "No"

Me: "Fuck"

My professors constantly reminded our class of the endless series of images we consume everyday. Those images do not stay whole once consumed, but exist in fragments. Those fragments can be attached to other fragments to form ideas. Man Machine was not an album I owned or even remember seeing in the record store. However, it would be impossible for me to state “I never saw that album before today.” Even though I wanted to say it, I could not. It would be impossible to remember everything up until that day.  If it were an album I owned, I do not the phenomenon would happen. Images and sounds the artist is aware of would never be presented as original thought, unless intended. So thus the images and compositions in my Godspeed You Black Emperor vinyls would never be mistakingly used in my design. I am aware of their existence as a whole. Man Machine on the other hand was most likely seen once and then forgotten, once remember when thought to be my own.. Why I can remember an album I never owned but forget simple arithmetic will always be a mystery. I, like my brother, was discouraged and started the project over. No matter how many philosophers and art critics defend juxtaposition, recontextualization and appropriation, creating something already done unknowingly does not give you control in your own artwork. An artist who knowingly uses an image of a famous artist to make a comment on the state of art will respond to the same accusations of plagiarism with “Yeah...I know...and?”  But to a high school musician, who wants to write his first song, or a graphic designer was needs to create an album cover, it is a curse. While I found this particular incident hilarious I still had to start the project over. Out of the endless series of images my professors told me about, enough parts of the original came together to create a replica.

I think of fragments of information in my head,  piecing themselves together to form thoughts and ideas. I think of those ideas as Lego constructions from the toy box of ghosts. Sartre built on top of Iron Maiden, decorated with Lovecraftian windows. I think of my words as voices from the dead, who once spoke in another language.  I look at my paintings sometimes like Magic Eye Art, trying to see the picture behind the “original image.”  Maybe Ill see it today.  Maybe not. All I know it is hard to defend the “death of originality” to a band that doesn’t want the word “LOGO” as their t-shirt design. While it is difficult to explain the work of Sherrie Levin,  it is even harder to rework an entire project because of a silly mistake. At least I’ll be aware of it now.... and any design I do, I will double check its authenticity before publication. I am glad this happened because now... the curse will never plague me again.

http://www.caspianisdead.com/original2.jpg

goddammit

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kraftwerk: Man Machine (1978)
http://waffles.fm/details.php?id=21088

The Postmodern Generator:
http://www.elsewhere.org/pomo/