Gods Little Toys by William Gibson
Pretty much this article covers "cut-up," "collage," "reconstruction," "remix" stuff from way back in the 40's all the way to now. The jist of this collage like method is taking writing, or songs, or sound snip-its, or something and cutting it up and putting it together with other things of that sort and creating something entirely new. This is also covered in more detail in Scutze's article.
I thought it was interesting to read these articles the week after we read articles on copy right laws, because these remixes are violating them. I personall thought the laws are getting quite rediculous and I was very happy to know people out there are still "sticking it to the man," if you will.
One thing I thought was a bit questionable in this article was what he said about the record industry. Basically he said they are pretty much out of the picture, or at least heading that way. Does he think these remixes on the internet are going to take over? That is what is comic. I don't even like music remixes so I doubt I would like other kinds either. Not to mention, if the record industry became obsolete there wouldn't be anything new to mix with. But he seems quite sure that that is the way things are heading.
I did like the last but about who owns culture and especially the music in it. I do agree that we as a people own our culture no matter what big companies say or think. That is what makes us who we are.
2 comments:
Sticking it to the man? Or is it just simply casual resistance or ignorance, which we all endulge ourselves in on a daily basis. I was listening to a radio show today that was discussing something I felt was very similar to the violations of copyright laws. The show was discussing making office pools for the NCAA tournament legal, and then went on to talk about whether it really mattered. They determined that most offices participated in at least some form of illegal gambling activity during the tournament, even going as far to say that it was likely that police stations did the same in some instances. So the question was posed, if everyone is doing it, to some degree, does it matter if it is made legal or not? If copyright laws are loosened, would we see a sudden spike, or change in quantity of the use of other people's material? I personally would say no, because as I have said, when it comes to these mostly minor infractions which everyone at some point participates in, then I would think that lifting laws agianst such things would have little or no affect
The theme of recombinant is very pertinent today and the ideas in this article seem to be hitting the nail on the head when it comes to digital technology. Instant messaging services, email, "surfing" the net, indeed most of the innovative and exciting aspects of the 90s internet have become commonplace. However, the one thing that seems to be surging in popularity and volume is digital editing at home. Music, words, video. I found a youtube clip of Monty Python's Holy Grail where someone had turned the swordfight with the Black Knight into a lightsaber fight with their home computer. We're definitely now engrossed in an era of recreation where we have the technology to freely and simply reinvent things we like in the forms of things we love.
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