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What a
rip snorter
by
dangermouse
It never
does cease to amaze me why people continue to rip other artist's
styles and work to produce their own work. The ethical issues
behind such as act are an important one, and should be discussed
further. So too, the people behind them.
By the
very definition, ripping means to "quote dictionary".
This can definitely be applied to the underground art scene. Ethically
and morally how can one actually copy another's work? How, if
you even claim to be an artist, blatantly steal another idea or
style or actual image from another? Something indeed to be pondered.
It's nothing new
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the original
file
..and the ripped version
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Ripping is
certainly nothing new to the scene. Every year artists are found
out by other artists, and usually publicly shamed because of their
actions. Packs were released in the old BBS days containing comparison
ANSIs and ASCIIs. Last year the ASCII artist shannifer
was found out be a fraud, and has not been seen since, and just
recently a pack was released comparing an ANSI by popular scene
artist and the accused Sudden Death.
The fact that
people release these comparison/flaming packs says a lot for the
scene. It means that people actually care if 'artists' aren't
preparing and creating their own artwork, meaning a sense of pride
must be present within the art scene.
Why?
One has to
ask themselves why someone would actually rip another artist though.
Is it to be popular? If so, is it worth the risk? It could also
be put down to impatience. Some people want to be the best in
their field straight away, without going the hard mile to get
there. It's sort of like taking prohibited substances in sport
-- you look normal enough on the outside, but when you start performing
better than usual over a short period of time, or someone looks
hard enough, you get caught.
Perhaps the
pressure of releasing forces some people to rip art. A pack deadline
is coming up, they have no ideas for a piece of art. They start
looking through some packs, see a great piece by one of the scene's
great artists.. The temptation becomes to great, and well, the
rest is history. Though, you'd think someone would choose a little
less known of an artist to rip. :)
Inspiration
Ripping and
inspiration are two different things however. This article is
not trying to condeme an artist being influenced by the style
of an artist, or just gain an idea by looking through the latest
Legion pack. There is nothing wrong with that, in fact, a lot
of artists today do just that.
If you like
the style of an artist, then try not to copy their style, develop
your own style, but be guided by the principles behind your favorite
artist. The amount of 'Lord Jazz' styles out there a while ago
was quite amazing.
What can we do?
Not much unfortunately.
Unless someone wants to form a ripping police squad that goes
through every pack released during the year. That's a bit extreme!
Conclusion
Just remember,
if you want to become a good artist, resist the temptation to
rip another. There's one secret in the scene that makes a good
artist, and I'll share it with you all -- don't be affraid to
ask questions, and most important of all, PRACTICE.
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