Who owns your beautiful idea? Who should? - African Insight

  After teaching a class in which we talked about plagiarism and how to avoid it one week in Expository Writing, the next week I was struck by the below paragraph about music and musicians within African society. This paragraph suggests, of course, one of the major problems that is associated with the concept of plagiarism... who can possibly own an idea? are ideas ever really developed in isolation from the community?

Musicians are respected, but only in the context that the music itself belongs to the community - not to the person who is playing an instrument or singing a song. Those instruments have been developed over many years, while the songs themselves are inspired by the people as a whole rather than by any individual.

~ "The Art of Africa: The 50 best African artists" (emphasis added)

  This topic has a multitude of roots and branches to explore, but it deserves much more nuanced consideration than the average person gives it when they encounter it, often in high school or some related educational setting. Often, the word "plagiarism" seems to be a collect-all term for shared community wisdom, re-used clear expression, laziness, concept-theft, inability to paraphrase, flattery (imitation), and more. Fantastic differences lie concealed within this offensive word.     

how a book lover becomes a loser

It always makes a sucker out of a man who truly loves books to see someone taking a genuine interest in them.

  This according to Louise L'amour in Yondering, 'Shanghai, not without Gestures'. The quote is excellent though the context may be less so. Speaking of Yondering, I'd highly recommend it for the sake of the short story "A Friend of the General," one of my all-time favorite short stories. It is fit to stand beside "The Most Dangerous Game" as an outstanding, stand-alone short story. Beyond that, "A Friend of the General" has always struck me as being written (semi-)autobiographically, and so I was not much surprised to find that at least aspects of it are indeed supposed to be true.

One further thought, taken from Yondering:

Artists who work with the pen, brush, or chisel flatter themselves too much when they speak of creation, for his materials are here, all about him. What he does have is a gift of perception beyond the ordinary, for he must select from all this great mass that is life what is most useful for his purpose. (in 'Author's Tea')

Istanbul Modern: an abstract day

  Today involved my first visit to Istanbul Modern, one of the main modern art museums in our city.  A variety of interesting works are exhibited in the museum, though few that I would care to hang on my wall.  Having read with benefit some of Francis Schaeffer's thoughts on art and worldview, I was looking at some of the paintings and considering what they might reflect in the artist's thoughts.  In the description of one of Mübin Orhon's works, it is commented that his art is 'based entirely on a use of color from which all form has been purged.'   

Untitled, 1968

  It was interesting to me to notice that the vast majority of these works still had two major, direct uses of form in each work: obviously, the frame, but less obviously the artist's signature.  In the above case, the artist even left the work untitled. Yet, while communicating formlessness, artists still apparently thought it important to bind their identities to the works'.  Does this communicate anything more than simple commercialism?  Likely so, but I will leave the observation here.

from the bottom left side

note on Orhon's work

a work by H. Anlı

Visit to art in a Utah cave

  Today, my brother-in-law Ben and I visited what is known as the "Red Man Pictograph of Timpie Valley."  After studying still pictures, a video and the map (see link above), we set off to find the cave on the side of a very large foothill beside a much larger mountain. 

View of the cave from where we parked

Zoomed in, still from the truck

  It should be stated here that while I live at an elevation of 5000+ feet in Denver, I rarely hike straight up the side of a mountain... in fact, never!  Ben set off, with Cinch...

  After taking the picture of Ben, I also set off, but eventually I had to set down... out of breath.  The view was pretty amazing, even though there's no greenery during the winter as you look out at the Salt Lake and its surrounding mountains. We're actually really close to the cave at this point.

    We did make it.  The hike took about 15 minutes, and we stopped to see another small cave along the way.  They are quite interesting looking in and of themselves; but with the rock art, it's definitely worth the hike!

Me with the aged Man

Ben posing with the subject of the portrait

The Cave

See the truck at the crossroads below?

View to the Southeast

View to the Northeast