This is a Forgery (RL)

I saw a documentary on PBS one time about Carhenge, a monument in the rural U.S.A. that imitates the formations of Stonehenge with automobiles instead of rocks. The man who made it had some interest in or was inspired by the original monument, and engaged with it by making a copy with materials that he had at hand. I wonder whether this desire to engage with something that inspires one is at the root of all copies and forgery. It is certainly true of musicians who cover songs by other musicians. The form of the thing is the same, but one's own hand and mind have been added to the equation. I'd always admired Frank Stella's paintings in museums and decided to make a copy of one of his black paintings in my own way. Making it, I was reminded of something an art teacher of mine said in the midst of a wave of academic cheating at our school: "art is the only discipline in which plagiarism is encouraged."