Deep Thoughts on Xerox-ed Art

(This entry is brought to you by the makers of Midol)

You know, Andy Warhol was criticized heavily for making multiple, near identical works. An offset by chance here, a different color there, perhaps, but in reality he was just making copies of copies. Why? It was easy, quick, and made money. He saw that he had a product that could be mass-produced and sold to the world.

And then it occured to me that he wasn't the only one, nor was he the first. Degas heavily traced/copied his subjects to compose a particular scene, especially ones done in pastel, and as a result he wound up producing thousands of drawings in his time.

Yet no one dares to compare the two, unless it is to kindly say that Degas' was a superior draughtsman whose eyes were failing in the latter part of his life, and his way of dealing with this was to use a shedload of tracing paper and charcoal to produce print after print after print. He was simply being.. innovative!

I'm calling bullshit here, big time.

From the cradle of their art careers, the impressionists were taught to copy. They spent hours in the museums, copying this master or that, trying to glean what they could from their subjects' composition. They copied to learn and they weren't expected to turn the idea into cold, hard francs.

Yet, they did. Can one honestly say that Monet's Nympheas are nothing more than handpainted copies of copies (without being beaten to death)? How about those endless Japanese bridge scenes? Were they "real"... or were they simply copies with different color schemes?

In the age of the industrial revolution, commercialism was born. With no patron (a la Medici) to support their art and lifestyles, artists turned to quick and easy copies of their own work in order to support themselves.

So was/is it Art? Hrmm.

Calling Signac

Strangest few days of my life. All of my cats had to go to the vet in succession for ass issues.

I need to think Pink. The color of wanted love.

Psychology of colors. Yes, this could be something I need to think about. Especially in regards to the colors I choose on a daily/hourly basis. Which colors do I choose often? Turqoise. Teal. Gold-Yellow. Deep, Violet Reds.

Translation: I'm such a mood swing.