Behind Cryptomnesia: Hidden Memory vs. Lack of Credit to Oringal Artist

Literally meaning "hidden memory", cryptomnesia is used to explain the origin of experiences that people believe to be original but which are actually based on memories of events they've forgotten. How does one recognize if these accounts are "deliberately fradulent or recollections of events that happened in this life but which she had forgotten...The first recorded instance of cryptomnesia occured in 1874 and involved William Stanton Moses, a medium who, during a séance, claimed to be in contact with the spirits if two brothers who had recently died in India. The deaths were verified, but further research showed that the obituary ran in a newspaper six days before the séance and all information in the obituary was given in the séance and nothing more was added."1

Does cryptomnesia relate to art in various forms? Yes and no and indirectly. I propose that a master taking credit for the work of an apprentice is a type of cryptomnesia. The masters claim the art as their own and they believe that the brush strokes came from their own hand. However, cryptomnesia is an abstract idea that dwells deep inside the mind. We cannot know definatly if the person is fabricating or truly believes it is orginally theirs. In the case of Rembrant, cryptomnesia is a possibility. According to "Stealing Into Print" by Marcel C. LaFollette acknowledges the"idea of genius" which gives credit to the master when apprentices are more likely to produce the art. Thus, the personality of each artist is now being explored to connect the works they actually created. This raises questions about a paintings authenticity and has created efforst to give the "correct" artist credit. 2

We do not know for certain whether cryptomnesia is an explantion for Rembrant's paintings, but we can imagine a man viewing his apprentices paintings and days, weeks, or years later reproducing it as his own. Will cryptomnesia ever be able to be scientifically proven? Or will we merely have to include it as a philosophy when exaiming various art froms?




1. Source: The Skeptic's Dictionary. http://skepdic.com/cryptomn.html
2. Source: Stealing Into Print. http://books.google.com/books?id=tR78UUu4uBsC&pg=PA99&lpg=PA99&dq=artists+apprentices+stealing+work&source=bl&ots=m0PlpZnF_F&sig=sNk4DtGMuvn8ui2KQ3uqz6yHEBo&hl=en&ei=skKkSYbCFpmMsQP5-tmrAg&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result#PPP1,M1

The cryptomnesia search...

Cryptomnesia: "the appearance in consciousness of memory images which are not recognized as such but which appear as original creations"

(Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cryptomnesia)

I will be investing the use of cryptomnesia in art work throughout time. Art that is based off of famous art but that does not give credit to the orginal artisit will be considered in the questioning of cryptomnesia. This includes famous art pieces that are altered daily to make a statement whether humurous or political. I will also include in my cryptomnesia investigation the relevance of similar themes and motifs in art. Cryptomnesia, for my purposes, will include closely related ideas. Where did the orginal idea come from and who was the first to utilize it. I will also compare the true definition of cryptomnesia with lack of credit givin to the original artisit. Does cryptomnesia include artwork that is altered but does not credit the artist. And, does the artist always have to be credited in order for it to not be plagerism?
Moreover, I want to discover ideas that don't remind me of anything; the orginal idea that is not mass marketed in various artistic mediums.

Which Mona Lisa will you frame?

The orginal Mona Lisa is "...the girl you take home to mom..." the parody Mona Lisa "...is the girl you take to a revoluntionary protest..."

Cryptomnesia: defined

Cryptomnesia is inadvertent plagiarism. "A memory bias whereby a person falsely recalls generating a though, an idea, a song, or a joke, when the though was actually generated by someone else." This memory is experienced as if it were a new inspiration. Let's call this a sleeper effect where the idea being plagerized is one of familiarity, however the differences created cause the orginal to be forced into the unconscious.

Relation to philosophy: Carl Jung has one: "The ability to reach a rich vein of such material (of the unconscious) and to translate it effectively into philosophy, literature, music, or scientific discovery is one of the hallmarks of what is commonly called genius.

The multiple layers of "Mona Lisa" arise questions as to what the under layers are and would perhaps be reflective of other art in the time period. Mona Lisa, you're the last of your kind.

Graffiti is a well known "art" form. This art is not a M.C. Esher or Picasso, but a revoluntionary type of art that is satirical, and insiparing. Banksy is a British graffiti artist that has rebelled against authority and caused graffiti-cal chaos on a global level. Initially started by a French graffiti artist, Blek le Rat, Banksy has stenciled his way into art critics, viewers, buyers, and sellers alike. View his art and read it in the manner people are told to read certain genres of literature: inbetween the lines. Banksy will pack more lines inbetween each line you read.

"THE FLOWER CHUCKER"
Say it with flowers. In spirit of the upcoming Valentines Day, this seems appropriate, however this is not how I'd like to recieve flowers. Banksy's stencil of a molotov cocktail switched with a bouquet of flowers is how war should be fought, but what are the flowers? Our generation has a plethora of art in every form, but what is the archive of the art we have created and seen-perhaps it is in a bouquet of flowers.

If Orwell taught me anything in the year of 1984 it was to respect AUTHORITY.