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June 04, 2015
The Bible for New Age Imposters & Theives: Austin Kleon's "Steal Like An Artist".
Steal like an asshole, dude. I was given this 2012 bestseller on Saturday by a Connecticut Avenue bookseller (there are more than one) I know and respect. She was embarrassed her store would continue it carry it. But it has value--in a twisted way. You must read it to believe it. Takes an hour at 110 large print pages. In part Kleon's book is a profoundly disturbing and in his case irresponsible attempt to rationalize "stealing" and joking about "stealing" the hard work of others by spitting out (usually devoid of context) some very well-known metaphysical observations by a few artists and thinkers about creativity, ownership, copyright and "nothing new under the sun." All that. Well, in this book, those quotations are trotted out to be read by readers who have never known who some of these guys are and were talking about. And of course no one cares. The adage "property is theft"--likely by half-crazed French political writer Pierre-Joseph Proudhon 180 years ago--we read or heard a lot about as undergraduates and liked to lay on law school property profs to show our reading and passion ("heavy, man..") is about the only old favorite reality/morality-buster Kleon does not use. Anyway, read Kleon's book and one of two things might happen to you. You might want to send him back to school to read some of the people he invokes (i.e., Duchamp, Flaubert, Dali, Kafka for fuck's sake.) But why? He could care less. Here's why. People a lot dumber and more vulgar than Kleon have been jumping up and down about this sick book and how it permits them to advance their agendas by "stealing". I may know what he means in the best sense of the stealing overture, i.e., borrowing with attribution. And you may know. But many if not most people who read and follow his advice will abuse the conceit, and use it as a pretext to steal outright. Kleon apparently has a new book out. I hope it's classier and less irresponsible.
Posted by JD Hull at June 4, 2015 12:31 AM