While I agree with most of what Jarmusch has to say in the above quote, I question whether or not originality is non-existent. You may be inspired by or steal from other sources, but ultimately what you create - from whatever you got from wherever you got it - is your own original creation no matter that it’s composed of received elements. If nothing else, the energy originates from you and therefore is original. If originality is dead then aren’t we all? If originality is dead then what drives art? Has the shock of the new turned into a recycled thud?

Here’s a fascinating look into the process Jarmusch went through making the soundtracks for Dead Man with Neil Young and Ghost Dog with RZA. All three artists seem to enjoy working in the moment, improvising and spontaneity, and I find the results quite original.
 

Jim Jarmusch second coolest man on the planet.  Second to Tom Waits of course.

Or we could argue that “authenticity” is every bit as nebulous, and non-existent as originality.

Oran,

good point.

The soundtrack Neil Young did for Dead Man contains some of the most sublime sounds ever played on a guitar (IMO)...

Authenticity is the knowledge that what you’re doing is heartfelt. The tell-tale sign that you’re being authentic is that you have no second-thoughts after you put it out there. It may be nebulous to others, but to you, it’s truth embodied.

Originality is myth. People live by it. It’s not “true”. Everyone builds on something previous whether they or anybody else is aware of it or not. There are always many aspects to any so-called original thing that existed before. Always. Things develope. They don’t come out of nowhere. Not something very well understood in the USA.

No such as an original thought?

No such thing as an original thought?

As long as one is sincere and true to himself/herself in the creation of a piece, it’s original. Though there are basic similarities between our brains (like we all have amygdala) after we are born, the rest of it all different and unique to the individual, like experiences and then our memories and our reacted emotions to those memories which in turn define our behaviours, our thoughts. As a result our perceptions and interpretations are slightly different. Togetherness of all the different elements in an individual is always unique, never exactly the same. So the individual is authentic. If he/she can bring his/her authenticity to what he/she creates it’s always original even if it isn’t always apparent and distinguishable.

I agree with most of what is said in that quote—-and now with more information available we find even more trinkets to bejewel our imaginations with. oooh, that’s nice!!
I always felt, since I was a child, that I had seen it all. My mom took me to the love-ins at Griffith Park when I was little and I was thrilled to be there but always felt like an old soul—- always been hard to impress me with strangeness or newness. I’ve often wondered why that is?