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plenary UNCONVENTIONAL
How to Steal Honestly
T
he perception of artists is that they are brimming over with original ideas. But if you ask
them where they get their ideas, art- ist Austin Kleon writes in Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative, “The honest art- ist answers, ‘I steal them.’” According to Kleon, there’s no such
thing as a completely original idea: “All creative work builds on what came before. … If we are free from the burden of trying to be completely original, we can stop trying to make something out of nothing, and we can embrace influ- ence instead of running away from it.” Go ahead and imitate the people you
admire for practice, he writes — not to pass their ideas off as your own, but with the goal of one day emulating them: “A wonderful flaw about human beings is that we’re incapable of making perfect copies. Our failure to copy our heroes is where we discover where our own thing lives. That is how we evolve. “So: Copy your heroes. Examine
where you fall short. What’s in there that makes you different? That’s what you should amplify and transform into your own work.”
. — Barbara Palmer For more information: austinkleon.com/steal
The Good Thief + World Choir Games
GROUP SHOT
Voices Carry
2012 World Choir Games More than 10,000 people gathered on Fountain Square in Cincinnati for the Celebration of Nations during the 2012 World Choir Games (WCG 2012) — the first time the event was held in North America. Taking place at venues throughout Cincinnati on July 4–14, WCG 2012 welcomed 362 choirs from 48 countries for 11 days of competitions, work- shops, concerts, and other programs.
For more information: 2012worldchoirgames.com
24 PCMA CONVENE SEPTEMBER 2012