Nina Paley - "the cult of originality"

[gusl]

http://blog.ninapaley.com/2009/12/28/the-cult-of-originality/

Her main point is that our perception is itself subjective and creative, and a sincere retelling can therefore be enough to make stories interesting.

<< The artists’ challenge is to take ideas other people say are stupid, and manifest them anyway. The more original an idea, the more people will say it is stupid, and the more the artist must overcome to love it into being anyway.

Most “original” ideas are already out there, being scorned. Who’s going to work at manifesting an idea others have already said is stupid? All new ideas are rejected initially. Artists merely champion those lost, downtrodden little memes nobody else loves.

Maybe an artist gives a home to a meme everyone else is turning away. They feed and nurture it. It arrives in their mind as a spore from the commons (the “zeigeist”); they don’t actually originate it. The idea is in “the ether,” but most minds reject it, can’t feed it, or don’t offer it fertile soil in which to take root. For whatever reason, the artist does. They allow it to fruit and release seeds – art. And then they are praised as “original.” >>

Comments

[0436.livejournal.com]

ugh, why do people feel the need to think about this sort of thing? just chill out and make out and do cool shit.

[jcreed.livejournal.com]

I think we (or maybe I should just say I) get pleasure from thinking about just as much as we get pleasure from encountering art itself. Or from chilling out or making or or doing cool shit. Thinking is another fun thing to do, unless it's not your favorite thing, which is fine.

[0436.livejournal.com]

yeah, that makes sense. I definitely get weirded out hearing about it, though. takes the fun and adventure out of it for me.

[jcreed.livejournal.com]

fair enough! I'm certain that it's extremely healthy for me to be reminded that not everyone loves overanalyzing shit to death, so thank you.

[0436.livejournal.com]

I hear ya...I tend to overanalyze friendships and relationships, which can be pretty annoying to my partner(s).

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

<< takes the fun and adventure out of it for me. >>

does it seriously make you enjoy art less, if you've thought about it?
is it because (a) thinking permanently changes the way you perceive the art, spoiling the wonder; or (b) you've now associated the art with something unpleasant/boring, namely thinking/arguing?

[0436.livejournal.com]

Hey man. I totally think about what I'm doing. And I don't experience "wonder" when making work - I usually want the audience to.

But I do think that these and similar questions are annoyingly unproductive (maybe because I've already overthought them, and I simply get more done without them):
What is art?
What is an artist?
What is creativity?
Why art?
Why creativity?
How is art-making justified?
Why am I an artist?

[gustavolacerda.livejournal.com]

ok, this makes sense to me.


<< Hey man. I totally think about what I'm doing >>

I meant when appreciating others' art.

[0436.livejournal.com]

When I appreciate others' work I do tend to analyze it.
I ask a different set of questions, though.

[0436.livejournal.com]

I think it's more to do with: it's so much more fun to make work rather than analyze work. I'd rather show my friends a video piece than show them a paper on someone else's video piece. I have more fun with friends who would rather see and make video pieces.

[bluebear2.livejournal.com]

This is so true of things. That article you linked to had it so bang-on about the gatekeepers preventing the audience and the creators from connecting.
This is especially true in Canada where the creators are as sophisticated and original as anyone else in the world but the institutions are so plugged into the U.S. media that they discourage our own artists and then they leave the country or stop being so innovative. Then five years later some American comes along with the same thing and it's imported into Canada and is considered brilliant and people wonder why Canadians aren't innovative like the Americans.
Sorry. Had to rant.

[ikeepaleopard]

Her movie, Sita Sings the Blues is way awesome. It is also very original despite being a riff on some pretty ancient material, so I am not surprised this is an important issue for her.