The Art of Vik Muniz and the Question of Creativity

"Double Mona Lisa, After Warhol (Peanut Butter + Jelly)," 1999

I was lucky enough to catch Brazilian artist Vik Muniz's exhibit at the Musée d'art contemporain last year. It had to be one of the most fun shows I'd seen in a while - probably because Muniz's mediums have included chocolate, sugar, peanut butter and jelly (as seen above), caviar, diamonds, and even loose thread.Muniz exhibits photographs he takes of his amazing creations. He is undoubtedly amazing talented and, I would argue, extremely creative. Yet much of his art, such as the Mona Lisas above ("After Warhol") and his "Pictures of Thread" series, is copied from famous images. The Warhol images he has copied are certainly not even in the public domain.

Lawrence Lessig says of Disney's appropriation of fairy tales and cinematic themes that "the key to [the] success [of his cartoons] was the brilliance of the differences." I would make the case that the same applies to Muniz.
He's a real charmer, too - check out this video from TED.