The imitation game

The first half of James Clear’s tweet:

“Every creative project starts as an imitation. You begin by mapping what you already know or have previously seen onto the situation.” 

Austin Kleon wrote in big black letters (from his book Steal Like An Artist)

NOTHING IS ORIGINAL. 

New words are based on old words. New plants are created by crossing existing varieties. Art builds on previous creations. Music is a combination of the same structures, evoking specific feelings from the listener. There are little recipes everywhere. Do this and that will happen. Everything builds on what is already there. Combine them in a specific way and your result will have a predetermined outcome.

The second half of James Clear’s tweet:

“But if you iterate and recombine enough, it becomes an original.”

Does this mean, by combining a big collage of different imitations and cutting new forms out of it, this creation becomes just a tiny bit original? Or are you just adding a bit of your personality to a background of other's echoes? Like building new houses with old stones. I think we can throw the idea of originality out that repurposed, brightly painted door.

Up to what point do we need to recombine and deconstruct until we can call it ours? Until it looks fresh, feels right or unexpected? Until the imitation is no longer imitating the original imitation by about 75%?

Or are we completely missing the goal and it’s all about the process rather the outcome? Becoming better at the method of folding and unfolding old ideas until it miraculously reveals itself as a different concept all by itself?

Perhaps the real question we need to ask is not if you can play the imitation game, but if you have a brilliant system in place to lure a whiff of originality out of a heap of stolen goods.