Collision of Creativity

I used to preach about people respecting artist, musicians and writers, by giving credit to their talent; by not exploiting their work. Though I still believe this, I'm guilty myself. Viewing the videos and information from the websites Creative Commons and Owl, has allowed me to see my own creativity in a different light. In the past I have used images from google, sometimes not worrying about if the image was available for free use from the artists. I blindly believed that since the pictures were presented on google images then it was OK to use for my own inspiration.

As I kid my grade school teachers allowed us to cut out images from magazines and make a collages to reflect out own personalities. My little hands would cut into the magazines and paste them on construction paper. But I didn't realize where these pictures came from, or the time spent by the artists who put their hearts and souls into the piece. Even now as an adult, I take images from magazines, or the web and make collages to grace the covers of my journals, thinking I'm actually being creative. But since I didn't create these pictures myself, am I still being original by tearing them apart and rearranging them? There is no easy answer.

I create play list for my mp3 player, collecting songs from famous and independent singers. I use them as the soundtrack for my each scene in my stories; which inspires me to finish them. I believe I'm molding the play list into something unique. But in reality, though I carefully rearrange and place each song in a particular order, I'm not being creative. The artists are the ones making my play list come to life, not me. I had no part in the music's production or lyrics.

By surfing the web, I have came across people who take images, music lyrics or pieces of writing to make what they believe a unique art work. This makes me ponder whether if I ever get published to allow my writing available for the public to use for artistic purposes. Though the result from a collision of amateurs ideas and artists work can create something beautiful, it can also turn into one big mess. In some cases this collision can lead to disrespecting the artist.






The first video is a spoof of Taylor’s Swift’s Song –You Belong With Me by Venetian Princess. Though VPrincess video is hilarious (I admit it I love all her videos) the spoof took a song that Taylor wrote herself, the music video created by the director and turned into a horrible, creepy persona of the artist. The second video is the official video, which is quirky and disgustingly cute, which has a positive message: Don’t judge a book by its cover. See the true beauty and soul within. The spoof disregards this message, VPrincess changing it by replying that if I change myself I can get the guy I want. Does this mean that every time an artist allows his/her work to be used, they are at risk for the meaning behind their work to fade.


Though the Internet is a place for freedom of speech, space, and ideas, does this give us the right to recreate a piece of art that doesn't need further alterations? If the amateurs themselves made a artwork that was mutilated and left to the devices of others on the web, they would feel the exact anguish felt by many artists.