What the world calls originality is only an unaccustomed method of tickling it. (Shirley not another Shaw?)
To think about originality, you must first think about purpose. To understand purpose I thought about life. I always find life offers the finest of metaphors. So run with me here…
Sam proposed, somewhat self-detrimentally, that originality could be a purpose for art. A cutely cynical idea, but if you think of it in terms of a life attitude, to exist merely for the quality of belonging or pertaining to an origin, it becomes patently absurd. I posit that originality is always a by-product of life and art, just as beauty is. It is a sign that something is working well – as the beauty of epiphany, an elegant design, great equations or scientific discovery. In this way, beauty and originality are closely connected, but neither can be a primary objective.
I was interested when Kit said, Art is a maelstrom of heterogeneous multiplicity. Again this metaphor is useful, for the same can send of all contemporary life. The post-modern project (and I call it a project with deliberate venom!) has drowned our taste with epistemic relativism and relentless attempts to create equality. We don’t know what is good anymore, we hold nothing dear and sacred, we have no clear goals, and we have no method of appraising successes. In short, we remain as childish as we can for as long as we can. Hence the fashion for words like, random, synergy, connectivity etc. Post-modernity encourages frivolous behaviour, and the heterogeneous maelstrom creates confusion, absurdity and mis-categorisation. But that’s another topic.
Anyway, the purpose of life is the strive to continue living. Since survival is not an issue anymore (in western society) and procreation is avoided for the most part, what has taken its place? Perhaps exploration and revelation. I see art as a form of inquiry and communication, both valid and necessary, which is closer to science or philosophy than to sport or leisure. But should this exploration be self-indulgent masturbation of the individual, or an altruistic endeavour, where societal issues and human intrigues can be satisfied – like how does biogenesis occur? Why does the atom look so much like the universe? Or how many penises can I draw on this pavement before the cement dries? Originality, beauty and meaning are the penis, vagina and womb of great things. But that’s just, like, my opinion man.
The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. (Surely Shome Mishtake Einshtein?)
Michael
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