Human nature wages a battle between individuality and originality on one hand, and community and "fitting in" on the other.

"We are in the process of creating what deserves to be called the idiot culture. Not an idiot sub-culture, which every society has bubbling beneath the surface and which can provide harmless fun; but the culture itself. For the first time, the weird and the stupid and the coarse are becoming our cultural norm, even our cultural ideal." 10

The question then begs, what of centuries past? The argument has been put forth that W. A. Mozart was the "pop icon" of his day and his music was the music of the masses. Wasn't Shakespeare embraced during his lifetime? What about Rodin and Escher? Bach and Stravinsky? All of these great individuals created great art, lasting contributions to their respective arts and were typical examples of the artists of their times. Why aren't they examples of the popular art that is transformed into great art? First, they each produced works that can inarguably be described as great works of art, beautiful and in deference to nature. Second, though each obtained an income from their art, it was not the commercial engine of capitalism that produced the motivation for their creations. Rather, it was a deep, specific education in, and a unique understanding of the art. In addition, each of their works possess a timeless nature born out of the natural beauty embodied in each of their works and that each work.

"Be guided by feeling alone. We are only simple mortals, subject to error; so listen to the advice of others, but follow only what you understand and can unite in your own feeling. Be firm, be meek, but follow your own convictions. It is better to be nothing than an echo of other painters. The wise man has said: When one follows another, one is always behind."

First let me discuss originality itself. The debate of whether original thoughts still exist has gone on for centuries. In The Thought Gang, the British author Tibor Fisher wrote in with tongue-in-cheek that all ideas were covered by the Greeks long ago, and that society is just rehashing what we've collectively forgotten. It's a fear that may justifiably exist among many artists, especially painters these days because we've run the full range from purely representational to purely abstract art. Eugene Delacroix, a French artist in the first half of the 18th century, is an interesting case. His work, seen through modern eyes, seems very safe, but he was actually a passionate, individualistic man. Delacroix loved color, movement, and vigorous painting, even though in the end, he always tempered his works to make them ready for "public viewing." But he laid the foundation, inspiring artists like Van Gogh to pick up where he left off. Often originality occurs as Sir Iaasic Newton once said by, "standing on the shoulders of giants." Originality is always taking an existing form and adapting it to create something original. Delcroix wrote in his journal in Paris on May 14th 1824 that the artist obsession to add to existing ideas.

One of the reasons why I love this quotes is it points to human hubris in assuming we've done all there is to do. To exapnd on already existing ideas is a risk. To be original is a risk that society will deem it either unoriginal or unworthy of notice. Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, a French artist twenty years younger than Delacroix, wrote in his notebook in 1856:

I believe that interacting with others leads to greater innovation than ivory-tower, closed-system work. It's something that a lot of artists wres

Some common words found in the essay are:
Shakespeare Rembrandt, , Andy Warhol, Bach Stravinsky, Corot French, Professional Wrestling, Iaasic Newton, Tibor Fisher, Henri American, Delacroix French, popular culture, pop art, popular art, art art, society art, financial gain, beauty subjective, john sloan, book art, abstract art,
Approximate Word count = 2324
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)