Middle Cat and Little Cat have tried to gin up a bidding-war for their artwork. Middle Cat’s brand trades on its sophistication. His claim to originality is that he is a cat who does not scratch furniture. Where, you might say, is his artwork, then? Middle Cat boasts that he is a performance artist; that he is both the artist and the art.
He isn’t pleased about the fact that Little Cat’s latest “Study in Black and Grey: Cat Scratches on painted Wooden Furniture” just recently went to an anonymous (but very generous) buyer. Middle Cat accused Little Cat of being a sell-out. But that’s not it. It’s not that Little Cat believes in giving the people what they want. Little Cat could give a shit about the people. He just really loves scratching up the furniture. But that love comes out in his work.
Big Cat, Little Cat
Original? Originality?
A lot of people leave their work unfinished because it’s not original. Nobody’s first work is original. Lots of early Beethoven sonatas sound like Mozart or Haydn.
And a lot of people mistake edginess for originality. But what is originality? What are you really inventing? Anoushka Shankar didn’t invent the sitar; she just plays it really well. Johann Sebastian Bach didn’t invent the dances–Allemande, Sarabande, and so forth. He just used them to get his ideas across. Just try to make the best version of a book you would like to read. Or a painting you would like to see.
Actually, here’s an original thought: be yourself and don’t look over your shoulder so much. Yes. Tolkien is a better writer than you. James Baldwin is a better writer than you. And Jacques Barzun and Frederick Douglass and… there’s a lot of writers out there. And most of them wrote a bad book at some point. Most of them wrote a bad story at some point.
Originality is When you Stick with It
Here’s something perhaps not original but damn near unique. The world is trying to tell you not to write your thoughts down. Not to share them. What could you possibly have to say? Who could possibly be interested? Etc., etc. And it may not be an original thought but when it bubbles up on your mind it sure feels like it: at some point everyone who wants to be an artist will have to say to themselves: “Who cares? I’ll start bad and get better. I do have something to say. And if people don’t want to listen, that’s their loss. My art is still worth my time even if no one else cares.”
Say “aye” if you’ve had those dreary thoughts about your art. Say “aye” if you’ve managed to work past them, or through them. Say “aye” if you haven’t gotten past or through those negative thoughts, but you really want to. Drop us a line. What can we do to help? The world continues to turn because of you and don’t you forget it.
Description
Three identical panels in which 2 cats, a large orange and a little grey, are sitting on a cushion engrossed in conversation. The large orange smiles down indulgently at the little grey, while the grey looks out of the frame, dissatisfied with… something.
Panel 1
Big Cat: Little Cat, do you think I’ll ever write something original?
Little Cat: Um… no.
Panel 2
Big Cat: What? Why not?
Little Cat: You’re too preoccupied with being original.
Panel 3
Big Cat: Ouch. And you’re so original?
Little Cat: A cat who’s jaded and sarcastic? Please. I’m a simple dish, well made.
