...or at least, that's what I was going to write about, until Aaron Karp stole my idea. So instead, lets talk about art theft (because really, what a thief. Like, for reals.)
A while back, a friend shared this article/book with me, discussing the role of "theft" in art, and what distinguishes good theft from bad. I find it an interesting concept - after all, in many ways, isn't all art derivative? Aren't all things simply the same stories, same tropes, and same characters repeated in distinct combinations? What then, distinguishes this "good theft" from the bad, the simple plagiarism or uncreative copying?
While you could examine each of these aspects in detail, the underlying concepts are of depth and spin - a necessary unique addition to any artistic theft that makes it new to the thief. Such is the passage of art and of story from generation to generation, words and pictures and sounds and stories through time, to be stolen from in turn at some later date.
It's a shame Aaron doesn't understand such depths, though.
