"What is the best way to describe the creative self? How should we conceive of the relationship between creative persons and the context that informs their work? Do the rules that govern cultural property help or hinder that work? When creators mix their labor with contemporary material, or with an inherited tradition, what portion of the new creation may they claim as their own, and for how long?"
This is another quote from 'Common as Air' by Lewis Hyde
I am less focussed on the last question of how long a creator may claim a work as their own and more on how much of the new creation can they claim as their's. In my work, I am much inspired by designers of previous centuries and depend on those age-worn techniques of the embroiderers of the past, so what part of my work can I authentically claim as mine? I believe that the answer is in all since it is my mind that interprets the form, my choice of contemporary materials, my selection from the repertoire of stitches and my hand that executes in a way that only that hand can do. In all these parts lies the source of originality and that which distinguishes my work from another.
And in terms of the 'how long', I invite any other person to take whatever they may from what I do and make it their own. The goal is to encourage an open exchange and not place any restraint in any place whatsoever.
No comments:
Post a Comment