A couple times in my life I have had the unique privilege of wondering if people had seen my art before something else was made.
Now, obviously, this would be interesting and I don't necessarily believe that Michael's people ripped me off but, to me, there were so many similar elements...it made me wonder.
I did the poster below in 2002 or so.
But it is a strange feeling to know, and again, not this case but there were a couple others that were regional, that someone looked at your work and decided they could do it, too. Some say it should flatter you, I'm not sure, some say it is a compliment...sorta feels like being taken advantage of.
What did I learn from this? If you are going to "borrow" some idea from someone, combine it, change it and make it your own.
It was not okay with me when someone used a specific combination of geometric shapes copying something in my work...but it is okay with me if, like the the left, people use the spirit of the work, so to say, to create their own.
