Not A Real Artist

     Creativity and originality go hand in hand when discussing art, but once someone takes inspiration or reinterprets another's work, the piece is viewed as invalid, uncreative, and unoriginal.  However, artists of every medium use inspiration from outside sources in order to create an effective and moving piece.  As time has gone on, it becomes harder and harder to an artist's work to be validated and seen as a masterpiece because some create their own piece by taking the works of others and making it into something new.  With the modern incorporation of technology into art, it is seen as easier to plagiarize or rip off someone else work, and many claim that creativity and originality are dead.
     New forms of art and technology are always doubted and dismissed at first, especially when used together.  In the TED Talk given by Lawrence Lessig, he provides three examples as to this being true thought society.  Lessig discusses the invention of the "Talking Machine," to which John Phillips Sousa had responded by saying that, "These talking machines are going to ruin artistic development of music in this country."  This shows that even the past, something new and modern was seen as corruptive of art because it takes away its authenticity.  The outlook on "talking machines" has greatly changed over time, and it seems that in todays society music and other art forms are solely distributed and shared through them.  People being scared of new developments and change in ways of life has become a growing trend throughout the history of a growing world.
     Another trend throughout history has been that phenomenal artists hate themselves and their work because it is looked down upon by other people.  Artists such as Vincent Van Gogh were only truly respected and recognized as masters of art years later.  Over time, the standards and interpretations of art change and develop with new discoveries and events.  These new progressions in the world can act as a stream of inspiration for the artist to create in an entirely new style.  In early America, artists and writers were rejected because their art did not follow the traditional European style and standard of art.  Throughout his TED Talk, Lessig was able to vocalize that creativity thrives with freedom but unnecessary laws and standards limit the acceptance of art.
     Technology and art have the ability to grow and work hand in hand, as shown in modern society.  Modern generations can be called remix generations, or animating generations; both of which are modern forms of art created through the medium of technology.  However, some people claim that remixing and remaking other peoples works make these new forms of art created through piracy.  This can be true if the context is not changed enough, but society thrives off of growing and expanding off of the ideas of others, so the same can be said for art and technology combinations.  Originality and creativity comes form interpreting the works of others; taking the work of someone else and combining it with something else or something new makes it one's one, making it original.  Everything in this world is based off of something else, especially in art.  Saying that interpreting or creating something based on someone else's work is piracy is almost the same as saying that artists who paint landscape are not real or original artists because the landscape was created by the earth, not by the artist; the same goes for the art of photography.
     Remixing and remaking works of art through the combination of both art and technology gives a reason for the standard definitions of creativity and originality to be reevaluated.  Thoughts, emotions, and other creations are original, even if one draws on outside sources in order to form them because more research and more outside sources can allow a person to create the something to the strongest capacity.