Hermès copies UAL graduate's work

Big brands often come along and “borrowed” independent artists’ work. It seems that in nowadays' consumer culture, In order to meet the fast pace of consumption, these big business' will resort to crazily “borrowing” from artistic achievements from all over the world to uphold a facade of apparent innovation, without any actual regard for the original creators.
This instance is a good reminder for our leading educational institutions whom, whilst nurturing the finest talent in the field of contemporary creative arts, must also make a point of educating our young artists about how to protect their intellectual property from potential theft. If you are an artist, designer or enthusiast engaged/interested in any form of creative production and would like to help raise awareness as to how to protect intellectual artistic property, or if you have yourself been a victim of intellectual theft, then please do post comments below, or get in touch with us to help raise a collective voice against the plagiarism young artists' work.

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"Tea" (2013) is an artwork by University of the Arts London, Chelsea College of the Arts’ MA Fine Art graduate, Zhang Yuan (aka. Redjade Yuan).

Yuan's work, consisting of a video projected through the bottom of a teacup is a creative and eye-catching work, especially due to its innovative approach to displaying a piece of video art as part of a sculptural assemblage. The video is of the artist herself dipping a giant hand made tea bag into the source of the river Thames. This ceremonial-esc video is accompanied by a teapot, which streams with uninterrupted billows of steam, as if the moment the tea has first been served on the table has been suspended in time.Since being showcased as part of an installation at Chelsea College of Arts 2013 degree show, this artwork has attracted much attention and success: featuring in magazine reviews such as Collage Magazine, being shown at Space Gallery - East London and later shown at the Shanghai design Week 2013, in Shanghai Contemporary Art Museum.

Two years later, in a show called 'Hermes Wanderland' (currently on show at the Saatchi Gallery exhibition in London, April 9 - May 2 2015), there appears a work, which is "extremely similar" to that of Zhang Yuan's successful "Tea" work. Reminiscent of an Alice in Wonderland-esc kind of fantasy, Yuan's video in a teacup is mimicked in a somewhat uncanny manner, through a work which also features a video displayed within a teacup. Upon closer inspection, the word uncanny might just as well be substituted for the word blatant, as it features not only the same display device, but also the same arrangement - a wooden table with a chair next to it inviting the audience to sit, and even the same type of tableware. The only notable difference between the two works is the lack of a teapot of streaming steam, and the choice of video presented in 'Hermes Wanderland', which shows a literal video of Alice from Alice in Wonderland spinning in a circle within the teacup.

In relation to the 'Wanderland' exhibition, Hermes states that “The journey through Wanderland draws its coherence from two intrinsic elements of la flânerie: dreaming and freedom of spirit… " This preaching of "dreaming" and "freedom of spirit" is all very nineteen sixties, until one considers how these ideals are undermined through the very form of this work, which probably takes from the soul of a young creative graduate, and clones a shell out of what she has conceived.

In recent years, big brands have come along and “borrowed” independent artists’ work. It seems that in nowadays' consumer culture, In order to meet the fast pace of consumption, these big business' will resort to crazily “borrowing” from artistic achievements from all over the world to uphold a facade of apparent innovation, without any actual regard for the original creators.

These victims put their most hard work and effort into their final degree shows. Here after months (or even years) of hard work and planning, they finally get the opportunity to showcase their finest creations before their peers, as well as the art world's leading institutions and professionals. To put it simply, the degree show is a celebration of the graduates' brainchild, and to put it in more flowery terms one could also lend Hermes' expression and say - veritably so - that it is also a celebration of the artists' own "dreaming" and "freedom of spirit". In which case, it seems more than ironic to consider that the words of Hermes were in any way imbued with real meaning, for they are like the replica itself within the exhibition, an echo of a distant truth.

Now a member of UAL's graduate society, Zhang Yuan, who made her work for the sake and consideration of the audience, with a "desire to touch another human life in a profound and meaningful way", has had her work taken and replicated by this big brand, without any care or notice given. On her website, http://zhangyuanartwork.com , her work 'Tea' is introduced in detail, with sincere explanations as to its conception and with its inspiration detailed.

This instance is a good reminder for our leading educational institutions whom, whilst nurturing the finest talent in the field of contemporary creative arts, must also make a point of educating our young artists about how to protect their intellectual property from potential theft. If you are an artist, designer or enthusiast engaged/interested in any form of creative production and would like to help raise awareness as to how to protect intellectual artistic property, or if you have yourself been a victim of intellectual theft, then please do post comments below, or get in touch with us to help raise a collective voice against the plagiarism young artists' work.