Appropriation: Ethic of The Creative Industry
Since the dawn of time, as were the early stages of civilization, the history of art, writing, and language has been an innovative, creative form of expression through philosophy, narrative, religious belief, and various human concepts over time. Artists tend to inspire artists over enduring periods of time, whether to redefine or recreate. However, it comes to the question of whether the recreation is in respect or mockery of the artist in which it originates. This question has later developed the political laws of copyright and consent, applying to various mediums in visual arts, photography, cinematography, graphic design, and just about any form of creative content or media being put onto public display. The question in connection with this phenomenon is called appropriation.
What is Appropriation?
To put in simple terms, appropriation is the legal act in which an artist will take a pre-existing work of art to make minor or major readjustments for a multitude of reasons. Such explanations can include redefining societal messages that tackle the norms of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, and others to comply. Others may imply to recreate a pre-existing work to innovate into a reimagined version of the original in which has never been thought about to begin with.
As of the early 20th century, appropriation was initialized into law and the political ideologies of copyright and ownership as newly-aged art movements like Surrealism, Cubism, Conceptualism, and Dadaism were on the rise in the early-to-mid 1900s. Some of the earliest influencers of these movements were Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Hannah Hoch, and Andy Warhol. Most of these artists and writers originated in France, Germany, Spain, and Northern America.
As a prime example, Marcel Duchamp used and refined one of Leonardo da Vinci’s most historically famous paintings, the Mona Lisa, in 1919. In contrast to the original, this recreation makes a slight difference in utilizing a cool tone and the primary standalone difference, a facial beard and mustache on Lady Lisa herself. What makes this painting significant to appropriation is that the artist, Marcel Duchamp, intentionally borrowed and copied preexisting material he refers to as “readymades” by using slight alterations to convey a different message to the public. His most famous readymade which questions the ideas of appropriation is The Fountain, a preexisting mens urinal on a pedestal written “R. Mutt, 1917”. This artwork gained recognition regarding appropriation through the use of cubist manners, ultimately influencing conceptual art and leaving behind a controversial footprint.
How does Appropriation Contrast from Plagiarism?
“Good artists copy. Great artists steal.” - Pablo Picasso
Many artists during the 19th and 20th century often replicated original works as a form of educating themselves of the elements of art and principles of design. Though that’s been the case for a while, many have also concerned the lack of originality and authenticity as going through the process of borrowing and copying original works of art. The complaints have gotten far up to the point where schools, colleges, museums, art galleries, music concerts, and other places that influence creative ideas and careers strictly prohibited acts of stealing art and credit from the original creator.