"Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal"

One of the things I find frustrating when communicating to some artest is when they have this notion that they want to create something that has never been done before.  From every thing I have learned about filmmaking, I have found that when creating, artest must use existing resources and ideas and combine them to create something that expresses a voice or concern.  Entertainment is nothing more then a manipulation of ideas, thoughts and resources translated in to a universal voice that the audience can ingage in, understand and relate to.

Its understandable that artest want to be new and original and rightly so; however, the old saying goes
"Good Artists Borrow, Great Artists Steal." Originality and style comes from the self.  Its the person who make the art unique because there is only one of that person.  style is made up of experiences and personality.  Many of the great artest in history had to be true to themselves and in large, use or take elements from the outside world to create something that effects the masses for generations.

I think one of the great examples of artest who use experiences to create there works is Jack london.  Many of his great literary works where based on his experiences.  Good writing in general must drive from experiences and personality in order to stay true to the craft. 

There is a lot of detail missed when not writing from experiences or personality.  Its the stubble nuances that make us who we are and its those nuances that creates a depth to storytelling.  There is a saying that 90% of acting is reacting and how is one supost to react if he or she has never experienced the emotions.   

It is impossible for a human to create something he or she does not understand.  Children have this innate desire imagine and create; however, there limited understanding of the world can only take there imagination go so far.  As a child grows up so does his understanding of the world.  The complex and long term collection of information in the world gives the mind an amplitude of resources and ideas to combine, reference and steal from.  

The god like want to create something from nothing is inherent within all humans.  We all have the innate desire to create and controle our creation.  Humans are generally social beings and the want or need to connect to one another is a huge part of our legacy.  The combination of art, language and math is the connecting force between people and sometimes it can divide.  Understanding Art is understanding the fundamentals of connecting with humans universally.  Art is the only medium of various forms to connect people from all walks of life.  Art is a universally excepted medium and dose not require any form of education to translate it into understandable and connectible information.  Even abstract art can be understood universally.  However, when an artest is not true to him self and his experiences, the art will show signs of missing information.  

I feel that people who gather with a collective mindset can create content that is rich and diverse in experience and in personality.  I have yet to come across an artest who can write a screen play by himself and still create a diverse set of characters with completely different voices or tones.  I know there are great writers out there, but even those writers tend to have a particular voice because it is who they are and there experiences along with it.  

Art is a science and can be learned.  Talent is part of us and some people just have allot if it while others have to spend there entire lives perfecting that talent.  No matter what the case we are still human and as humans we have limitations.  So artest who connect with one another have a better chance of creating something with richness and complexity.  

No matter what kind of artest you are there is always something to improve on.  Remember, creating great art is only as good as the ideas, experiences and resources the artest takes from.

By 

Robert Sawin