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Have you ever copied an image from a photograph,

advertisement, magazines, journals, or other sources?
When is it ok and when is it not?
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art appropriation
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art appropriation
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 The use of appropriation in art has played a

significant role in the history of art such as those in
the literary, visual, musical, and performing arts.

 In visual art, to appropriate means to properly

adopt, borrow, recycle, or sample some aspects of
human- made, visual, cultural. In most cases, the
original ‘thing’ remains accessible as the original,
without changes.
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Historical background of
Appropriation in Arts
o start of appropriation in arts
1970s o Richard Prince rephotographed advertisements such as for Malboro cigarettes;
main work is in billboard advertising

Through imagery of the Marlboro Man, the

cigarette company’s cowboy mascot, Prince
explores the myth of American masculinity—
characterized by ruggedness, virility, and
independence—and how it is propagated by
mass media. Presenting Marlboro ads in new
contexts, Prince reveals the constructed
nature of masculinity: “People usually look at
photographs and expect to see fact, but in
the end, don’t.”

Left: Jim Krantz; Right: Richard Prince

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Historical background of
Appropriation in Arts
o became commonly used by artists
1980s o Sherrie Levine addressed the art of appropriating itself as a theme in arts; often
quotes the entire works in her own work; plays the theme of “almost same”

On display was a series of

famous Walker Evans
photographs which Levine
photographed directly from an
exhibition catalogue.

“After Walker Evan”

 Historical background of
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Appropriation in Arts
o In this digital age, appropriation have today become an everyday
1980s phenomenon.
o Some artists said that by liberating one finally from traditional
concepts as originality, they will lead to new terms of understanding
and defining art.
o On the other hand, critical observers said that if creation is based
on nothing more than carefree processes of finding, copying,
recombining, and manipulating pre-existing media concepts, forms, varies
and alters of any source, art will be trivialized, low-demanding, and a
regressive activity.
o While some said that only last people who have nothing to do are
inspired in this way of appropriating arts. Copying, imitating, repeating,
quoting original works of art is plagiarism and is a violation of the
copyright law.
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APPROPRIATION ART CASES

FILED IN COURT

Appropriation act has resulted in several copyright issues

wherein it investigated the division between transformative
works and derivative works.

Persons who faced lawsuits:


APPROPRIATION ART CASES
FILED IN COURT
Andy Warhol; “Campbell’s Soup Can”
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The images of Campbell soup cans are clearly appropriated. He
copied the original labels exactly but filled up the entire
picture plane with their iconic appearance. Warhol isolated
the image of these products to stimulate product recognition
(as is done in advertising) and stir up associations with the
idea of Campbell's soup.
He wanted you to think of that "Mmm Mmm Good"
feeling. At the same time, he also tapped into a whole bunch
of other associations, such as consumerism, commercialism, big
business, fast food, middle-class values, and food representing
love. As an appropriated image, these specific soup labels
could resonate with meaning (like a stone tossed into a
pond) and so much more.
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APPROPRIATION ART CASES

FILED IN COURT

The first lawsuit stemming from the “Banality”

shows was filed in 1989, when artist-photographer
Art Rogers sued Koons for exhibiting and selling a
sculpture of his photograph Puppies, which showed a
man and a woman clutching eight dogs. Koons’s
defense of his work, String of Puppies (1988), was
simple: His transformation from a two dimensional
image to a three-dimensional sculpture was
completed with the intention to parody and thus, it
qualified as fair use, a legal defense to copyright
infringement.
Jeff Koons; “String of Puppies”
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APPROPRIATION OF ART INTO CONTEMPORARY

NARRATIVES

o Artists appropriate and transform works of art to varying degree to fit the
theme and designs of the stories they wish to illustrate and publish. Their purpose
of doing this is to increase the significance of their artwork.

 Three (3) forms of narrative appropriateness in fine arts:

o Reproduction - is the mimetic reproduction of an original work of fine art, a faithful

rendering of an original artwork, most frequently achieved through a
photographic or digital rendering process
o Transfiguration - a single work of fine art is identifiable but the artist has transformed
the image to fit the context and purpose of a particular picture
board, narrative and design
o Stylization - a specific work is not readily identifiable but a particular art movement,
for example surrealism may be adopted upon by the illustrator.
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APPROPRIATION IN CONTEMPORARY ARTS

The process and nature of appropriation has considered

by anthropologists as part of the study of cultural change and
cross-cultural contact
Images and elements of culture that have been
appropriated commonly involve famous and recognizable works of
art, well-known literature, and easily accessible images from
media.
Marcel Duchamp : the first artist to successfully
demonstrate forms of appropriation within his work; devised the
concept of ‘readymade’, which essentially involved an item being
chosen by the artist, signed by the artist, and repositioned into
a gallery context. For Duchamp, the work the artist was in
selecting the object.
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APPROPRIATION IN CONTEMPORARY ARTS

 Thus, the beginnings of appropriation can be located to the

beginning of the 20th century.
 It is said that if the art of 1980’s could be epitomized by any one
technique or practice, it would be appropriation.
 The concepts of originality and of authorship are central to the
debate of appropriation in the contemporary art. To properly
examine the concept, it is also necessary to consider the work of
the artists associated with appropriation with regards to their
motivations, reasoning, and the effect of their work.
 The notion of authority is still very present within appropriation in
contemporary art- but diminished responsibility.
TO SUM UP:
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CULTURAL APPROPRIATION: WHY IS IT AND WHY IS IT

WRONG?
 The idea of cultural appropriation has entered in the mainstream of contemporary
society, casting doubt on legitimacy of everything.
 The reason is: it can provoke anything from less serious to serious offense- a
violation of the copyright law. It can also provoke the originator, the author of
the work that was appropriated to sue in court the person who appropriated the
work- but it remains hard to defend and prosecute.
 Cultural Appropriation, in terms of art, is when someone adopts, copy, transfer,
borrow, transform something, an object, image, motif, etc. From a culture that
is not his or her own- a photograph, a book, clothing style, hair style, etc.
 The problem arises when somebody takes something from another less dominant
culture (especially without the knowledge of the original owner) I n a way that
members of that culture find undesirable and offensive.
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- TRISHA MAE OGAMA