Searching for the original painting

[dwi...@nas.com]

If I paint on the basis of my memory am I not just building Icons or
representations of paintings? If I am, where is the original? What is the
nature of the original painting and would I recognize it if I saw it? At
what point in history did the original painting appear? Who was the first
to see it and did that person become a painter at that point? Or a namer
of paintings? Was that name immediately assimilated into the memories of
other members of that culture or was it passed along from individual to
individual eventually becoming a collective memory? Did it reveal itself
as a physical object or a concept? On the other hand has the original
painting been done yet? Is it revealing itself bit by bit as time passes?
If so who will be the one who eventually recognizes it; names it? Does
ones vision of what a painting is change with the addition of new
information? How does one come by that information? Through experience?
Revelation? If I choose to believe that the original painting is revealed
bit by bit over time then memory's role in this process becomes an
important factor when considering its nature. Memory has another name.
'Body of knowledge'. Each of us carries with us a body of knowledge based
on our memories and our memories are based upon our experience. The
complexity of this body of knowledge is dependent upon the complexity of
the sum of ones experiences. I use ones here to mean either individually
or collectively. Is this a valid assumption? If it is valid then this body
of knowledge is fluid since experience can vary in quantity and quality.
Is experience when taken as an isolated event influenced by previous
experiences? If so then memory is an active process which ultimately
changes the nature of each succeeding experience. If I name this a
painting you either agree or disagree on the basis of your experience. If
your experience does not include information relevant to the one at hand
you accept or reject this information because of its source(The essence of
education?) or you reject it as not relevant or not compatible with your
experiences. There is another possibility here though. If memory is an
active process which influences succeeding experiences then when I name a
painting you become actively involved in its creation. If I have used a
language consistent with and compatible with your previous experiences and
have created symbols and established relationships you are able to
assimilate and comprehend as a painting are we sharing memories? Can we
trust these memories? Is original work done in the absence of memory?