Appropriation not Plagiarism

When we look at the work of artists such as Jeff Koons, Andy Warrhol or Quentin Tarantino, we often enjoy that feeling of "I know that !" referred to something they decontextualize and then recontextualize. They are not copying nor stealing (as Picasso would say). 

The re-appropriation of iconic images carries a very important message in the history of art.  It is often, if not always, a polemical message that aims to bring to the surface an issue or a contradiction.

In the Equilibrium show, Jeff Koons creates Nike ads fac-similes that underline the cheesiness of the originals while in Andy Warrhol's Campbell's soup can the aim is not only to stimulate in the viewer the same reactions of advertisments, but also to bring up the debate about contemporary phoenomena such as capitalism, consumerism, fast food and last but not least the subliminal messages advertisements are filled with. 

As a wider idea the concept of appropriation could be associated with social movements such as the so called street art. In fact, all those underground/suburban forms of expression that are based on the re-appropriation of public spaces could be labelled as a direct form of appropriation: graffiti art is an excellent example of this phenomenon. In this case, though, the object to be appropriated is not an easily recognizable brand but a common thing such as an urban environment. This form of art can, in this context, be easily compared to Duchamp's dadaism in which the artist chooses to decontextualize every-day life objects such as a bicycle wheel.

In this perspective we can categorize the french parkour as a form of appropriation which is more similar to action-art and which purpose is to take all sorts of public spaces and turn them into a big playground. 

http://arthistory.about.com/od/glossary_a/a/a_appropriation.htm

http://www.jeffkoons.com/site/index.html

http://www.google.co.uk/imghp?hl=en&tab=wi