Nothing Is Original

In just 0.46 seconds, I was able to Google how many times Google was used a day, to find the answer was a mere average of 5,922,000,000 searches per day. Yes, that’s all. I’m going to be honest; I used the daily statistic because I couldn’t be bothered working out how to say the yearly number. I could have just Google’d that also, but then I would be representing everything that is wrong with the Internet today. Today, the Internet is a ‘gigantic, global, not well organized, constantly expanding and changing information cloud’ (Manovich, L 2009), with user-generated content being the fastest growing part of this cyber-universe. We are more connected to the global village than ever before. But is this conveniently accessible, forever expanding information source and connectivity all it’s cracked up to be?

One of the benefits to having access to media that contains so much information and connectivity is the wider availability of collaboration. With the ability to communicate with people all around the world with the simplicity of modern day technology, collaborating with likeminded people is much more achievable. The ability to reach people from different countries and cultures without having to leave your apartment allows the individual to explore collaboration in a much broader, global sense. Collaboration can also be useful for things such as crowd funding. Websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo allow people who need funding for activities ranging from filmmaking to potato-salad-desiring to collaborate with those who are willing to help out and fund these ideas or projects.

But does this connectivity have a negative affect the way we connect for creative purposes? Has creativity become limited to those who have access to the Internet? Does the ability to share everything on the Internet limit the creative capacity of others? Is everything just a copy of something you saw online? It seems you can’t talk about something you’ve seen or read on the Internet without everyone already knowing about it. I’ve been in many situations where someone starts talking about a news article, video or picture they saw online, only to be interrupted by half a dozen people saying they also saw that, and suddenly the conversation dies. Then comes the issue of ‘copy-cats’, people who see funny videos online and remake them themselves, anything from romantic gestures to pranks. Ideas are replicated at a rapid rate. Is the easy access to ideas preventing individuals to come up with their own ideas? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Perhaps the ability to view the work of others becomes a form of collaboration and helps formulate individual creativity?

“Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don’t bother concealing your thievery — celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: “It’s not where you take things from — it’s where you take them to.” — Jim Jarmusch