Exquisite Collage x 2

Once again, I came across two books with similar content. They are both beautiful. Dazzling pictures in colorful collage illustrate both.

 Steve Jenkins and Robin Page earned a Caldecott Honor for What Do You Do With a Tail Like This? (2003). They illustrate portions of animals’ bodies and ask a question. For example, “What do you do with ears like these?” is the text on a two-page spread that shows the ears of a bat, a hippo, a rabbit, a whale, and a cricket. We turn the page to find a few entertaining answers and the animals in their entirety.  A hippo closes its ears when underwater. A jackrabbit’s big ears keep it cool. Bats “see” with their ears, and a cricket’s ears are on its knees. All 30 animals, fish, reptiles, and insects have additional descriptions at the back of the book.

Birds from Head to Tail (2018) also features beautiful cut paper collages. Stacey Roderick and Kwanchai Moriya show just one feathered friend per question. For example, “What bird has a head like this?” shows the powerful face of a great horned owl. Turn the page and we find a paragraph with a few facts about it. The owl appears in context, unlike in the 2003 book in which creatures appear in white space. “What bird has a beak like this?” A hummingbird. And so on. We see the eyes of an eagle, the body of  a kiwi, the wings of an arctic tern, the legs of a flamingo, the feet of a blue-footed booby, and the tail of a peacock.

I’m discovering how art builds upon what’s come before. Austin Kleon talks about this in his book Steal Like an Artist.  As I was surfing recently,  I stumbled upon the Supreme Court decision ANDY WARHOL FOUNDATION FOR THE VISUAL ARTS, INC. v. GOLDSMITH ET AL No. 21-869. Argued October 12, 2022 – Decided May 18, 2023. With some free time one afternoon, I read a lot of it. Goldsmith sued when she saw a Warhol rendition of a photograph for which she owned the copyright.

I recently attended a collage workshop in which we cut pictures out of magazines, glued them down, and then painted them. I was disappointed that the workshop transitioned into a painting class. Then I recalled that the instructor would look at our work and say, “Now it’s an original.” Upon reflection, I wonder if he was referring to our avoiding copyright infringement.  

Copyright is front and center in this age of artificial intelligence. When is art inspired by what’s come before and when is it stolen? It’s a fascinating controversy.