Collages – Appropriation/manipulation/originality

This is such a gray area to me, but I can see how determining if an art work is original by analyzing how different it is from the original it sprouted from. In the case of Richard Prince, I would agree that the changes he added to the original images created something very new and different, but part of me still feels that the artist who took the original pictures should at least be mentioned. Prince would not have created what he created without Cariou’s images, and I feel that should be honored.

It was interesting reading how appropriation has evolved over time, and come to think of it, it makes sense that it would have and that’s important to understand the historical context around it. This reading made me think of a question I heard once. If someone gives me a painting, and I don’t like a passage, is it ok to paint over that part of it? As a consumer, I want to say yes, as an artist, I really really don’t like the idea…