Due in large part to its loose definition, the realm of visual art is one with very few inherent wrongs. As such, artists have long pushed the boundaries of what it means to create something that is to be interpreted as a piece of art. Take for instance Yves Klein, whose work “Blue Monochrome” features — exactly as the title describes — an intensely monochromatic coat of blue over a canvas. Artist Marcel Duchamp presented a pre-existing, once-functional urinal as a work of art, leaving the door wide open for criticism and speculation alike.
Due to their nature, the interpretations of artworks amongst any audience are likely to vary immensely. There is an undeniable subjectivity enjoyed by something with a definition as broad as that of art and it would be an objective judgment to cast works such as these aside due to personal opinion. Oftentimes, a work in the vein of Duchamp’s aforementioned “Fountain” exists primarily to elicit controversy, create conversations and challenge an audience’s preconceptions. That established, it is very important to distinguish the significance of these works as benchmarks of an ever-growing culture. As with all works, they were influenced by the era they came to exist within. Duchamp presented a toilet as a work of art in large part due to the period’s growing surrealist movement.
Any scene with as much historical significance as art inevitably grows to exist within a vacuum; it is impossible to create a work without inspiration as, in the current day and age, art has a presence everywhere and within everything. In fact, when coupled with personal experience and artistic voice, inspiration becomes one’s own self-expression. That said, while inspiration is quintessential and often a positive force in furthering the greater world of art, it can be easily confused with imitation — a much more direct and less inspired way of contextualizing influence. A tracing of Picasso’s “Guernica” may be visually impressive, but it will always lack the personal voice and lived experience that inspired the original and made it as culturally impactful as it was.
In the same way, an individual taking direct inspiration from an artist such as Jean-Michel Basquiat and failing to account for the cultural and personal significance that informed his brushstrokes will produce an imitation that comes across as no more than an ironic mockery of his work.
