Originality is the Holy Grail of artistic endeavor. More precious than gold, it speaks to us at our point of aesthetic want; that place where art is supposed to speak to us, in that sacred part of our being which is built for the express purpose of apprehending the aesthetic experience. And when it's good, it's very, very good. Because it is also the most intangible element of the creative act, it is the most elusive in terms of translation and basic understanding. Very few artists achieve it. Very few ever will achieve it. And yet, it is instantly recognizable when we stumble into its presence. There it is, something utterly unique and inimitable. Something that changes us in ways that add profoundly to our depth, but that we understand only as Enchantment. In a world in which homogeneity is prized above all things, we experience originality as something almost incomprehensible, and if we are lucky enough to remain focused, without distraction for that brief moment in its presence, the philosophical question arises; ‘From whence comes this?’ And we are unable to say.
Can we learn to be original? Great artists are virtually unanimous in their belief that it is something that cannot be taught, and likely for just that reason, it is to be found as often among unschooled artists as those who have gone the academic route. So what is it? Hmmm. We scratch our heads. We have to think.
The biggest problem in delving into the nature and process of originality is that it seems utterly resistant to formal definition. It’s like trying to give the definition of a chair. (Go ahead and try that one!) Every time we try to put our fingers on it, we find it has shifted, moved just out of reach like some funky quantum particle. Of course, ostensive definitions are what we use. THIS is a work of great originality. THAT one over there is not. Just like you do for the chair. Of course, it's easy enough to simply say 'I've never heard/read/seen/felt anything like THIS before, therefore, it must possess significant originality. Well, it ain’t necessarily so. Could be your experience is quite limited. You have no way of knowing whether or not Stevie Ray Vaughn has achieved originality among blues players if the only other one you've ever heard is B.B. King. And it is here that we have stumbled onto what is probably the best possible guideline; experience. Those who have spent their lives, for example, deeply absorbed in the world of music, having listened in depth to many different forms, many different musicians, many different approaches to melody, rhythm, and harmonization, etc. know that the sheer number of experiences they’ve had will help them to discover ‘original’ artistry and to distinguish it from the derivative, particularly the highly derivative. (Which, sadly, constitutes by far the lion’s share of all music.) Of course, we don't all get to be musicologists. But if our culture, particularly in America, put more emphasis on the value of the artistic experience in the process of human development, we would find not only vast numbers of people joyously celebrating their own precious discoveries of originality in the arts, we would also find that same culture reaching unimaginably higher levels of potential in all its fields of endeavor. The whole thing is connected.
It is also important to note that there is no direct connection between artistic ‘talent’ or ‘ability’ and originality. It’s not about being good at what you do. The vast majority of craftsmen and craftswomen who achieve high levels of technical proficiency in their chosen artistic fields will forever remain outsiders to the sacred realm of originality. This doesn’t mean that we can’t be deeply moved by their efforts. There are so many great artists doing meaningful work; virtuoso musicians, extraordinary draftsmen, wizards with words, amazing actors, the list goes on. They live that they may communicate great things to us, and they succeed. But even in the presence of mercurial virtuosity we are seldom apt to find originality. It’s a different animal. The distinction here is between ‘the accomplished’ and ‘the unique.’ ‘The unique’ is the higher entity. It signals a place to which only this one gifted individual can take us. Such realms are lofty indeed.
This, then, is the salient point with regard to having any kind of advanced conception of originality in the arts and sciences. Simply put, it's like this; if you immerse yourself in the world of human creativity, your experience of living life at this time on this planet will have been profoundly maximized. If you squander all your time on your sales ledgers, it will have been just as profoundly minimized. And as far as we know, we only get to do this once. So it's all about how high we think humankind ought to be capable of soaring, and whether or not we choose to become living examples. One thing is certain. If we all learn to step back from the trivial and uninspired hours that the world always forces upon us on some level, and learn to be in the moment with a great work of art, we will have learned how to be magicians. We can stop time. We can snatch a fleeting glimpse into the eternal unity of the universe in which we live. Indeed, we may become as gods from just such moments.
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