Post #82241 by Formikahini on Mon, Mar 22, 2004 5:22 PM

On 2004-03-22 14:16, rodeotiki wrote:
WOW, I am fairly new and have tried to be respectfull of everyone I have come across. Just having finished carving my second ever tiki I doubt if I will post pics ever. For fear of being roasted. I spent hours reading and sketching different aspects of tikis I have found here and theres is a little influence from everyone here. The last thing I want is to be accussed of copying when I was looking for some influence and insperation to turn into my own tiki. Best luck to all.
Hi Rodeotiki (great name!)!

Please don't fear the board. The only way I can see that someone might toss his negative personal opinion your way would be if you tried very very very hard to carve something eXACTly like Leroy or Wayne, then immediately tried to sell it publically, hoping to have it mistaken for a Leroy or Wayne. AND collecting what should be their money for the design.

I mean, bands (or the clubs where they play)have to pay royalties to cover songs! Live, and on their recordings. If it's someone else's work you are using and you're making money off of it, you pay them the money for their song, and you keep the money for the performance.

You'll find this board FULL of people putting up fotos of "my first tiki" or "my first try" and the reception is, to my memory, 100% positive, even when the work wasn't, well, breathtakingly original. But in fact, there is ALWAYS something cool about somebody pulling out the chainsaw or chisel and whacking away. TC is also full of people who carve beautiful pieces very much in the style of various masters or tribal designs, and they'll be the first to admit, "This is my new Maori-type piece" etc. Or they've met the master who's worked they've learned from and gotten his blessing.

I'm sure the line is hard to keep firm - the line between tribute/homage and outright copying. (I'm unsure where it lies myself.)But it seems like when Band Y starts out mining the same territory as Band X, it is not the same thing as Band Y trying to sound EXACTLY like Band X - but isn't Band X. I'd just be kinda embarrassed, frankly.

So I say, please do show us your stuff! I have a feeling it's going to have some similarities to lotsa pieces on here, but won't likely look exactly like any one piece. (I mean, how many varieties of "wooden Polynesian figure with weird grimacing face" can there be?? Wait, don't answer that. I keep being amazed at the depth and breadth.)

And if it does look exactly like another piece, who cares? You're starting out you say, and every art class in the universe starts out by copying the Grand Masters, then moving on from there.

Ride 'em, cowboy! Show that bad bronc who's boss!
Warmly,
Formikahini