There's been a fair amount of media attention given to the latest arrest of graphic artist Shephard Fairey, this time under allegations by the Associated Press that Fairey's iconic "Hope" Poster of President Obama (now hanging in the Smithsonian )was modeled after an AP photo. [make your own Fairey-esque icon here]
The case centers around the idea of "fair use" and is ubiquitous enough as to state (in the copyright law, no less)
"The distinction between “fair use” and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined."
Fairey is not the first, nor will he likely be the last. What he has done is renew conversation on whether or not street art can, in fact, be fine art. (The [in]famous British artist Banksy has weighed in in graffiti form in the picture above). Some have dismissed Fairey's work as patently plagiarizing the works of others to pander to wanna-be indie revolutionaries. Others praise his creativity in leveraging the visage of none other than Andre the Giant into a cautionary Big Brother presence.
Banksy has left his indelible social commentary all over Britain, New York, post-Katrina new Orleans, even the Palestinian walls of the West Bank. Business owners loathe the involuntary advertising that a new Banksy work brings their business, while others seek out the elusive artist for pieces for their personal collections.
Last month the New York Times reported the arrest of "Poster Boy ", a razor-blade whiz that slices peel-and-stick movie and product posters to (re)fashion mashed up displays of political expression and post-consumer dissent.
Meanwhile, in the beats-per-minute arena that is recorded music, Girl Talk is a one-man-mash-up-outfit that samples as many as 300 songs on their latest album. Greg Gillis, like Fairey, believes he is/should be covered by fair use laws and does not seem to fear a music industry that has gone from Big Brother to unmasked Oz since a college kid in Boston made Napster.
****This is not to mention any risks taken on this site by posting songs, links, images and information.****
The truth is, I find meaning, beauty and truth in each of the above artist's works. I think they speak to depths of human issues and experience, and rightly hold a mirror up to some of the shadowy sides of our "civilized" society. I'd even go so far as to say that by speaking truth, to power or otherwise, they become part and parcel of a Divine task.
And in terms of fair use, no one dared ask the Creator of all things for permission to indelibly alter the creation (see picture 2 above, from the Jesus for President tour last year).
We do this all the time--around the water-cooler, through e-mails and texts. We're constantly swapping information about American Idol, Iran, a boyfriend pranking his girlfriend's hairdryer, whatever. Information is so freely exchanged that newspapers are ceasing daily service while providing comprehensive websites. Even the largest media outlets have cowered to public outcry, providing embeddable video and limitless Facebook and blogging tags.
In my "Introduction to Biblical Literature" Class I always start our conversation with the Gospel of Judas . It's a 4th century text that surfaced a few years back under much published pomp and televised circumstance. Scholars weren't shocked--the Gospel was throughly Gnostic , though it was rightly noted as being among the books denounced by many early church fathers.
I always ask the class to consider whether or not Judas should be included in the canon or not. Their answers vary considerably, but normally there is a palpable sense of unease. Here exists a document that seems to be untrustworthy, but it's origins are reasonably comparable with many of the manuscripts of the New Testament--"In or out?" is suddenly not such an easy question to answer.
A very wise professor in college once said "everyone has a canon within the canon." What he meant was that regardless of how much Christians (or anyone else for that matter) affirm Scripture as "true", we all have certain passages we cling to more closely than others.
I would (and have since) argue that the Canon must always be open. Our Canon is constantly changing as we take in the height, depth and breadth of the created world--as we observe the Divine gift of creativity rightly expressed by others that speaks of truth and beauty.
So, during this season of Lent, we must confess of our own plagiarism.
We confess that we no more came up with our own songs then we lifted them from the birds.
We confess that even our best portraits don't convey the image of God a person bears.
We confess that snapshots of cliffs and waterfalls will never convey the majesty of the real thing.
We confess that our fussing about rights and royalties has more to do with greed than with truth.
We confess that all truth is God's truth, and settling for anything less would just be lying to ourselves.
