In defense of copycats

Michelangelo found his first patron, a Cardinal named Raffaele Riario, by forging a sculpture and artificially aging it. It wasn’t a cult of personality, or story, or perception of originality, that drove the work; it was the skill. 

The times have changed, in a way. We value work differently, because copies and replicas can be made with ease. That doesn’t mean there’s absolutely no value in some copycats, particularly in the process of making one and the insights to be gained from it

In art, there’s transcription; the process of making a copy in order to study and deconstruct it.

In trying to make a copy, there’s also the inevitable you-ness that you can’t extinguish. It may feel like you’re falling short of making the copy—and maybe you are!—though perhaps that constraint is what makes you unique. Discovering that is also incredibly valuable; it can be your signature.

There’s also just the nature of copying a physical product; it’s a competency of its own. You can always start by making replicas, and eventually move into originals.

Aiming directly for originality isn’t always the best path to achieving it. You are not special; other people have already spent time on what you want to do, look for the starting points already out there. Practice, keep doing, and allow originality to emerge naturally from the process.

P.S., There’s a difference between copying and stealing another person’s work. You’ll know.

P.P.S., Michelangelo’s first commission didn’t go so well; another story for another day.

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