Zoom Session 12

Steal Like an Artist –

For a long time now I have been aware that in the art and design world it is very difficult to find something that is completely new. There are elements borrowed from one piece of work that may be copied or changed to make a more exciting piece of work. Even in my own practice it feels like there is ‘nothing new under the sun’. I find there is nothing more frustrating to think I’ve found a great idea, only to research it and discover that actually I’m way ‘behind the curve’.

However in today’s talk this became even more pronounced when we had some examples quoted from artist Austin Kleon’s book titled: ‘Steal like and Artist’. Kleon decided to research into his own style of art. He found that over the centuries there had in fact been not one but three other artists working in a similar way. These were namely Brian Gysin (1916 – 1986), Tristan Tzara (1896 – 1963) and Caleb Whitefoord (1734 – 1810). Apparently they had all been doing something similar. When this is seen across the ages it really does show that nothing at all is ever new. Indeed the title of Austin Kleon’s ‘Steal Like and Artist’ (2013), made me wonder if Glyn Dewis had actually borrowed his title in part from Kleon’s which was called: ‘Photograph Like a Thief’ – Glyn Dewis (2017). Although the titles are worded slightly differently the sentiment is basically the same. It would be interesting to uncover whether or not Dewis had been inspired by Kleon’s earlier work. Maybe art really is theft after all? – A quote widely attributed to Pablo Picasso.

Other Topics This Week

We also looked at the art of collecting as opposed to hoarding and we had another great quote by Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe – namely: ‘We are shaped and fashioned by what we love’. In terms of being an artist then I do believe this is very true. There was also a quote mentioned by Gustave Flaubert, ‘Be regular and orderly in your life, so that you may be violent and original in your work’. I also think that this is a great piece of advice. We also discussed using and hands and we did a really interesting exercise on continuous writing. This has inspired me to make a gallery of my handwriting where the images are interesting. I’ve included an image below along with some of the slides from the talk for future reference.

Handwriting Collage