Well I thought for once I’d use my blog for something other than zombie trailers and utter nonsense. It was brought to my attention today that what seems to be quite an old argument has risen it’s ugly and quite boring head yet again. Way back in 2002 I created what went on to be my first well known image, Shat-at. How do I know it was 2002 exactly? Because I remember exactly where I was when I created it, and more to the point I have the very first original file I worked on that still has the date info associated with it. Some time after I’d already painted this image quite a lot around east London and on canvas for people, a very similar image was brought to my attention by artist and illustrator Casey Burns. Below you can see both images and the obvious similarities.
Who came up with the idea first? How should I know?! Did I steal the idea from Casey Burns? Not in the slightest. Did he steal the idea from me? Again, I’ve no idea. But is it really a case of plagiarism? Or maybe, just maybe, that out of the 6 billion people on planet Earth thinking up ideas every single second, 2 of them, living at at either ends of the globe came up with the same idea. The idea itself is hardly like dreaming up the theory of relativity. An AT-AT from the Star Wars films looks like a dog, wouldn’t it be cool to paint a picture of somebody actually taking it for a walk? BOOM! There it is. Yeah, it certainly is a big coincidence that both images appeared within a year or so of each other, but I doubt it’s a case of theft.
But this brings up an interesting case that I know has been discussed a lot already, especially over the last year or so; where exactly is the line drawn between influence and plagiarism? And another question, can 2 (or more) people really come up with the same idea within the same time frame?
Let’s take the first question to start with and use examples from what has become known as the world of ‘street art’. Off the top of my head I thought quickly about a few artists who’s work are quite similar in style and content and I’ve put a few examples below. Let’s start with a pretty obvious one.
Warhol's Marilyn
Banksy's Kate Moss.
MBW's Madonna
Banksy taking the first step to create a humorous play on the classic Andy Warhol image, but then Mr Brainwash following suit and using the idea yet again, this time Madonna being the focus. So who is MBW ripping off, Banksy or Warhol? Is he ripping anybody off at all, can it be filed under ‘influenced by…’? I think knowing what we know about MBW after his starring role in the recent Banksy film, it’s probably safe to say his influences for this image very much came from Banksy. My PERSONAL opinion on this one is that to regurgitate an idea that’s already been coughed up once before is really pushing it, but this seems to be a recurring theme that surrounds the controversy of MBW and I’m not gonna get sucked into that discussion right now.
Next example, D-Face V’s Paul Insect.
Paul Insect’s Jimmy Hendrix Dead Rebel
D-Face’s John Lennon.
Both artists released a successful series of very similar images based around various dead musicians all in stages of decomposition. I could be wrong but I’m pretty sure Insect’s work was released first, but does this mean D-Face has ripped him off? I’ve no idea, he could have been sitting on this idea for sometime and from experience (examples of which I’ll go into shortly) this could very well be the case.
Paul Insect’s ‘Poison’.
Miss Bugs ‘Mother’
2 Artists who have been known to be very similar stylistically, but which side of the line would you say they fall? Is there quite simply a strong influence here or is it something more?
Rene Gagnon
Banksy
Obviously 2 VERY similar images but can it be put down to a massive yet quite innocent coincidence? A quick google search for ‘boy praying’ and the original source photo used for both images is on the 3rd page of results, so it’s hardly a hard to come by image. Rene Gagnon was first off the mark from what I’ve read, but does this mean Banksy has blatantly ripped him off? I guess it could be possible that Banksy was totally unaware of Gagnon’s image before he released his own, stranger things have happened at sea. But what if he was aware? Quite uncharacteristic behavior for an artist who has quite deservedly risen to the top of his game through the quality and originality of his work and ideas. A simple change of clothing for the boy would have been an effort, but both are identical. also quite interesting how one has devil horns, the other an angel’s halo.
Banksy’s Nola
My ‘Not Everything is so Black & White’
Here’s an example I can safely say for sure was a total coincidence. My piece was sketched out and ready to paint before the release of Banksy’s Nola and after seeing the similarities, I decided to ditch my idea at first and just put it down to bad luck, a classic case of sitting too long on an idea only to be beaten by a more pro-active peer. But then after I realised how much I liked the image and I knew that I wasn’t trying to rip anybody off, I just went with it. And why not? Banksy is hardly the first person to paint someone holding an umbrella, and I doubt I’ll be the last.
I know all of the above isn’t the greatest argument and discussion in the world, simply because I don’t have time to go into a total balls out essay on the subject. But I guess my point is that coincidences occur, it’s just part of life. I also wonder at times about the theory of humanity sharing a collective consciousness in some way, and how artists are said to be more in tune with the unseen ideas and thoughts that surround us. I’ve seen many examples of it in the past to support the theory and wonder if it’s such a crazy idea. The brain operates though a series of electrical impulses, maybe these waves of electricity aren’t confined to the inner workings of our own minds.
And yes, there’s always going to be people who will take the easy route and just blatantly rip somebody off, but I’d like to think that people would have enough foresight and mindfulness to try and work out which side of the line the work falls, theft, influence or simply innocent coincidence.
