The Art of Imitation.

Braden Kelley's "Blogging Innovation" has an interesting article this morning, on creativity, suggesting that creativity is as much about copying, and allowing external influences, as pure inventiveness.  Writer Yann Cramer points out that people who proclaim "I am not a creative", are really pointing out their reluctance to copy, or to be influenced by another's work.  He writes, "To innovate, start by copying, again and again.."

When I was in London working on the Top Performer video, I saw and video taped dozens of performers throughout the city. It was clear from the beginning that most of the performers were using material they'd copied from other performers.  There were, however, some performers who were strikingly original and their material not only didn't appear to be copied, but any other performer would have found copying their material to be difficult. 

Imitation can be a learning path, a way of getting ourselves into the game through alignment with those around we admire. As a young performer I worked with Penn and Teller at the Renaissance Festival in Minnesota. I was so influenced by both of them, by their wicked sense of humor, their approach to working with the audience, and their fierce originality.  I emulated them, copied their approach, matched their timing and mimic'd their energy without taking any of their material as my own.

The human imagination has a great capacity to be inventive, and it is deeply influenced by the people and events we come in contact with. When we see, read, talk or work with someone we admire, we can use that influence to inspire us. We might "copy" someone else's work to get us going, but what makes us original is in how we interpret material and events, and how that influence moves through us towards an expression that becomes our own signature. 

Go into the big world and knock around, take your journal and write down what you notice, what gives you energy, and what ideas start to emerge from the static. 

Comments

[Pizpor]

"There were, however, some performers who were strikingly original and their material not only didn't appear to be copied, but any other performer would have found copying their material to be difficult."

Brilliant!

This is truly the crux of a unique act. One that is original in content and character. These are the qualities that an audience will sense and love. Each performance of the act becomes a destination, an event. Each show feels like that was the only time that string of interactions has ever happened and they were thrilled to have been there to be part of it. They come back time and again to witness it all over again because they sense that each show is organic to the audience, their energy, and the spontaneous interactions that occur between them and the performer.

The audience knows there is no one else like this performer. Memorable in name and appearance. Impossible to copy. Original in content and character. A joy to have discovered, to have spent time with. A thrill to seek out and attempt to experience the magic again and again.

To recognize and discover these sorts of talents reveals as much about the performer as it does about those in management that can envision how that person will benefit the organization.

Great post.

[ScottyRoberts]

When I was very young, I read a lot of comic books and spent a great deal of effort working to emulate the style of various artists. But as I grew older, I found that I didn't want to be known as a comic book artist, but rather, an illustrator with a unique style all me own.

So I copied what I saw and liked, incorporating my own use of light, color, swash and verve. In so doing, I have evolved - over the last four decades - a style that is solely my own, insomuch that it has become recognizable as being different and innovative, yet wholly familiar.

When I taught illustration courses on the college level, I reminded my students that a true artist can possess an infinitesimally smallish core of talent that could only be made into something wonderful by way of practice and imitation. And in so doing, hone a truly individualistic style.

Writing was no different. I absorbed the works of the authors I wanted to emulate.

"There is nothing new under the sun..." postulated Solomon. All we can do is ingeniously perfect.

Wonderful post. I may copy it.