Art from Elsewhere, Source of Inspiration

I was cruising the net for inspiration, checking out what other people are up to. And found an interesting video ad for vodka (of all things), featuring an installation piece by Glue Society, a multimedia collective from Sydney, Australia:

Chair Arch: A film by The Glue Society for 42Below Vodka. from Glue Society on Vimeo.

While watching the above video, I experienced a strong sense of déjà vu... Then, on their website, I found a commission they created for Nike, the "Flying Nike Shoe" (click and watch that video)... Now, one concept could be coincidental, but the use of two concepts that strongly evoke the work of a specific artist... that is not quite coincidental.

Both videos use visuals that remind me of the work of Brian Jungen, a Canadian artist.
Case in point:

Cetology (2002) by Brian Jungen. Collection of Vancouver Art Gallery, Courtesy Catriona Jeffries Gallery

Prototype for New Understanding #11, 2002 Brian Jungen
Nike Air Jordans, hair
Catriona Jeffries Gallery, Vancouver

It's safe to say that plastic chairs sculpture is nothing new, and neither is deconstructing Nike shoes... Both videos are takes on the work of Brian Jungen, a renowned Canadian artist who has shown his work and is collected internationally...

Looks like someone from that multimedia creative group went to a Brian Jungen exhibition and came out inspired... Then transposed his ideas to the great outdoors. Can you say derivative, anyone? I guess it's a consecration when the world of advertising takes your work, tweaks it, and uses it commercially.

And if these rumblings have piqued your curiosity about Brian Jungen, here is a link to the Catriona Jeffries Gallery, where he showed totems made out of golfbags in 2007; his bio on Wikipedia; and on Cybermuse (our tax dollars at work), you'll find short videoclips of the artist explaining his work, and why he became an artist...

So here's a convoluted thought: to make a statement about cultural appropriation and dilution, a native (part native?) artist uses mass-marketed consumer products to create pieces that evoke nature and West Coast aboriginal art. His work is then appropriated by a multimedia collective (newspeak for ad agency?) that in turn uses two of his concepts to create commercial videos to market more products... On another continent, no less... Is that an illustration of what goes around comes around?

The world is getting smaller. And my head hurts.