Who the fuck cares is a shitty artist is being imitated by a shitty wannabe. More than anything, it's just sad.

Regina "the hack" Hacket reports that both lawsuits were dropped. That's the same thing as "never happened." Chibully ( not mispelled ) can't claim any style is his if he doesn't do any of the work and now it is confirmed that he doesn't even paint his own work.

Eesh, now there are a couple of insightful remarks. As with most things, this ain't a black and white situation. Folks tend to confuse the issues with their dislike for the showman that Dale is -- it's hard to argue that he ISN'T an artist, just maybe a poor one. Look, if one of Mark Kostabi's "assistants" were to start making rip-offs of his paintings, he'd have the whole art world on his side, despite his sketchy reputation. The reason: His paintings are signature, obviously his. But he has successfully fended off the same charges -- that he has others paint and sign his work. Why can't Dale have the same protection in the art world? (Please don't tell me that Kostabi's paintings are any more original than Chihuly's.) I want to defend Rubino on the grounds that he is a talented artist making forms that have been used for centuries, but I can't. The plain fact is that he purposefully made Chihuly knock-offs because he knew how to and could make a lot of money doing it. He figured he had carte blanche because Dale would be too chicken to expose his own empire for the factory that it is, and Brian had the dirt. It's just this side of extortion and it failed. Sort of.

What is the difference in Dale buying his glass or commissioning another artist to make it and sign his name on it, and Robert Kaindle blowing glass with Bryan Rubino and sign his name on it? Nothing. Knock offs are the Louis Vutton bags from China being sold as an original Louis Vutton. That's a real case of unfair business practice. The sore spot for Chihuly is that Bryan is the real artist behind his claimed work. Here's another enlightning observation; seems Chihuly has snapped out of his bipolar depression and is on the lose doing some damage control such as spending the weekend in Tacoma "watching other artist create his artwork" so he can sign his name on it.

Sorry, but I don't see any difference between Louis Vuitton knock-offs and Robert Kaindle imitations. So what if Rubino blew through a pipe or shaped the glass for works under the name "Dale Chihuly" - the same hand (or mouth) that made "Robert Kaindle" works? He was a line worker in Dale's shop, stepping into a factory that was already producing a signature object. His embellishments were marginal -- he wasn't exactly expected to go wild even if Dale liked artists to add their own flourishes. Look, I'm sick of the Chihuly Empire and I realize that he essentially trying to copyright forms that have existed for eons, but it's obvious that his team of artists have produced a signature style by cobbling together these varied elements and he has a right to protect his product. Rubino should make works that look like Rubino works -- or at the very least like Robert Kaindle works.