Jacques Derrida's "Otobiographies"

Derrida writes about the idea of the signature of the author in a written work and the importance of the ear. Derrida states that, "I speak myself to myself in a certain manner, and my ear is thus immediately plugged into my discourse and my writing" (50). He goes on to discuss Nietzsche's idea about the keen (small, discerning) ear and the larger ear. The ear is not just an auditory organ, but also a visible organ. The ear becomes important, as Derrida suggests that it is with the ear that the other (readers, listeners, etc) determines the signature of the author. In the act of signing a work is not what establishes the author's signature, and instead it is something that is determined later by the other. It is how the other reader understands the text and how he or she sees "traces" of the author throughout the text.

Can we relate these ideas to artists and their artworks? Is the act of an artist signing his or her work not the actual signature? Is the signature of the artist actually determined by his or her audience? This can occur posthumously as Derrida suggests with literature. In fact, in a way, this relates to Barthes' idea about the death of the author as the birth of the critic. Is the critic/audience finding traces of the author within the work, and it is how the other understands the artist through the traces that determines the signature of the author? We could even relate this to the idea of the imprint. Artists often leave imprints on their work - van Gogh's brush strokes sometimes go straight through to the canvas, Warhol's silkscreen methods actually require imprints to be made on the canvas. Is it the way in which artists leave their imprints that will later be viewed or "heard" by viewers that will determine the artist's authenticity, his or her signature?