REMIX | REMAKE | REMODELREMIX | REMAKE | REMODEL

Allison Jones

Credit: RiP! Manifesto

A little activity to start with….A little activity to start with….

And now for a video…And now for a video…

The Avalanches – The Avalanches – ‘Since I Left You’‘Since I Left You’

1999 Debut album

• Both critically acclaimed and popular with the kids

• An estimated 3,500 separate seemingly mismatched separate vinyl clips

• ‘Found sounds’ – musical soundtracks, oddball comedy routines,easy listening 60s and 70s pop, Madonna

• Unique hybrid of hip hop, psychedelia, pop

• Organic process, no intention of clearing samples

• Where is the follow up?!! Lost in the copyright clearance process most likely!!

Just what is ‘Remix’ ?Just what is ‘Remix’ ?

• You’re probably familiar with these terms:

Meme, bricolage, collage, appropriation, sample, cut-n-paste, ‘found sounds’, Read-Write, Read-Only, mash-up, ‘culture jamming’

• All of these are in some form a type of Remix

• Remix is the act of taking existing artistic work or anything in a form of media or an object and altering it to suit your purposes

• A “remix” in the sense of music is usually an artist-sanctioned re-working of a song

• But based on the above list of terms, it means so much more

• An entire creative movement

A veritable feast of media, genres and artworksA veritable feast of media, genres and artworks

• Forms of media, genres, objects and individual works can be remixed

• Music, obviously ;P - mash-ups, sampling, traditional remix

• Films – ‘’re-boot’’ of films (eg. ‘foreign’ films)

• Literature – eg. ‘’intertextuality’’

• Theatre – 160 Characters stage production

• Academic writing – essays utilising the ideas of others

• Internet Memes – constantly mutate. LOLCats, Hitler videos

• ‘Modding’ – modifying/personalising objects

• AND SO ON….

Cardon CopyCardon Copy

http://www.cardoncopy.com/

Handwritten flyers on telegraph poles re-worked and then post the new version back in the original environment

ROOM FOR RENT

Cardon CopyCardon Copy

LOST CAT

Cardon CopyCardon Copy

MISSING DOG

Why Remix? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…Why Remix? If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it…

• Curiosity/Experimentation

• Participation/Community

• Remix as protest

• Competition Photograph: Catherine Shaw

• The embedded meaning of existing work – Lessig

• DIY culture – extension of punk ethic

• Digital media has facilitated an explosion of remix – formats are remixable, tools are more accessible

• Shifts in the location of production – ‘’Produsage’’ – Axel Bruns

Larry Lessig…Larry Lessig…

• Harvard Law Professor

• Prominent Remix scholar

• Main interest: intersection of technologyand the law -- > digital technologyand copyright

• Has published 5 books and countless articles

• Founder of Creative Commons

REMIX…LessigREMIX…Lessig

• Main Focus -- > REMIX: TEXT and REMIX: MEDIA

• Why are the two treated differently?

• Outlines the differences and similarities between the two

• Modern use of media and remix is just another way of writing

• Benefits of remix: Community and Education

• Remix is not new, but has been silenced by economics and copyright

Creative CommonsCreative Commons

• Est. 2001, not for profit

• To allow people to have their work used more easily by others

• Mission is to increase the amount of material available in ‘’The Commons’ – for legal use by the public

• Licences are free with different options for level of usage allowance

• Estimated 350 million CC licences in use in 2009 globally

• Used by companies such as Google, Al Jazeera, Flickr

Other leading lights…Other leading lights…

• Greg Gillis AKA Girl Talk – mash up muso

• Cory Doctorow – novelist, tech activist, blogger, Boing Boing co-ed

• Henry Jenkins - academic

• Axel Bruns - academic

• Negativland – multimedia collective into ‘culture jamming’

• Hip hop stars

• Other artists

Critique : there’s a lot to think about…Critique : there’s a lot to think about…

• Ethics

• Copyright, IP

• Recognising the original source, distortion of meaning

• $$$

• The value of remixed works

• Talent?

• Fragmented experience and culture

Can’t stop ‘til you get enough…Can’t stop ‘til you get enough…

• Lawrence Lessig explaining Remix culture and Creative Commons:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFdcPc-4Ris

• Lessig’s very amusing riposte to Andrew Keen:

http://www.lessig.org/blog/2007/05/keens_the_cult_of_the_amateur.html

• Walking on Eggshells Yale student documentary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt0ASo_6Sdghttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYNrVVbfLxwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kLJND1z52c

• Download Remix legally and for free!

http://www.archive.org/details/LawrenceLessigRemix

• View the RiP! Manifesto film in parts:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=rip+manifesto&aq=f

• Colbert Report video:

http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/01/colbert-issues

• Henry Jenkins

http://www.henryjenkins.org/2008/06/interview_with_total_remixs_ow.html

We need to talk…We need to talk…

• Is there a generational divide in attitudes towards remix and the use of others’ work?

• Is a work original if it’s not something completely brand new? Is it something of lower artistic worth?

• Where is remix going? Is it just a fad or here to stay?

Thanks kids….Thanks kids….