Are You A Pepper?

No.

H2O because I am old.....

Richard, summed up I would not expect anyone to say yes......Yet so much artwork is rather derived.

I remember those commercials too.
I'm a pepper:

Me too!

Oh I would say no matter how much I would like to think of myself as original, I am a Pepper too.

Were all originals in that there is no other combination exactly like us. Yet I am a derivative of my parents or others might say a hybrid. This is how I see art work it may be a derivative of something else but no other has its exact combination

As I read your post, I envisioned a "prepper" substituted for a "pepper". Filmed in a 1950's style bomb shelter, surrounded by bags of rice and beans, and packets of freeze dried foods, with gas masks and semi-automatic shotguns hanging on the wall. So nostalgic, yet so timely!

I think it's the female artist/photographer Barbara Kruger who says we have been bombed by mass media so much over the years that we no longer have an original thought. So all I can say is give yourself a break today!

I think my subconscious art is pretty original - never seen anyone else do it - so at least I pioneered something :)

---Shawn Dall
ShawnDall.com

I think of my emotional landscapes as original. What do you think?

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Even if someone else is doing art like yours Shawn it would not be exact. We don't live in a bubble, whether its mass media or the great outdoors......there is always information coming at us........so define original Ronald

You do it! The whole point of this is we are much more like cattle than we wish to admit. We respond to certain stimulus in a rather predictable way, Magicians as well as advertising agencies know this and use this knowledge to their advantage. To even break away from the flock a tiny bit takes huge effort.

"..To even break away from the flock a tiny bit takes huge effort."

I consider retiring as a move away from the flock. With the exception of basic life functions (eating, sleeping, paying bills, etc), I look at any other activity as voluntary and not mandatory to some degree. Ya gotta start somewhere. :)

Well I already did define it.....were original yet also a derivative but non exactly the same. Well as humans we have our limits and knowledge is definitely used for an end result. And as we have seen with the Bruce Jenner interview.......he is trying to break away and wow no its not easy nor acceptable by many. But Bruce is doing it and though is not the first to do this he feels its his own idea of what he really is

You're right Ronald. It takes supreme confidence to break away. When my painting took on an air of originality (or at least I was no longer being consciously derivative) the owner of the gallery that was representing me no longer wanted my work. "I really like your older work." "These figures look like ninja cartoon characters". However, after the "ninja cartoon character" piece placed first in a regional show, she accepted my new work.

There you go Jim....she needed some other form of validation beside your own confidence in order to accept it. So supreme confidence is not enough. I believe your piece is original if you did it because it will not be exactly like any other even though you may have unconsciously formed your idea from outside influences at some point

I believe, perhaps mistakenly, that a large part of creativity is being willing to at least try to make the break. Tiny little steps by countless artist creates art history rather than large leaps by just a few.

So Ronald by this I see this as being a leader. Ultimately I see our most creative as rising in there uniqueness to lead a movement....which we have seen in history. In todays times this may be far more difficult to do.....because not all of us artist can accomplish this.....if we do we will have all chiefs and no Indians....so which creative will be the Indians?

Why does an arts education start with art history? Don't we stand on the shoulders of what came before?

There you go Edward.....we cannot deny what has already been done and its influences on us

Of course we're very similar, that's called society...

I love the fact that kids today have this "you're all so [bloody] special" message thrown at them. Why cannot people just get on with it...

Everyone is special to someone or at some time. And it does need to be conveyed so that they can carry on. Its impossible to face the pain of growth without a counter balance

Never would I be a pepper, a maverick,a rebel, anti-establishment, the drummer that drums to a different beat but never a pepper. Challenging the rules and always breaking them is far more exciting, even if I'm wrong.

It can be tricky though Mario, cuz you may need to follow the rules while you challenge them toward change

I'm a squirt.

Never would I be a pepper, a maverick,a rebel, anti-establishment, the drummer that drums to a different beat but never a pepper. Challenging the rules and always breaking them is far more exciting, even if I'm wrong.

Says the man in a uniform, standing in front of Old Glory!

Am I the only one confused.... ;-)

One thing has nothing to do with the other Richard, the opportunity to be a rebel and an innovator and to be different exist in every area of life, if one is willing to look deep enough and have courage to follow ones natural intuition.

A soldier fighting to keep a nation free, could very well be a non conforming conformist based on choice of when, how and why