Remixing the Remix

The Art of Juxtaposition in the Digital Age: A critique response

I have to admit this was in my opinion the most intriguing remix that was presented.  It was “pure green genius.” The ability to remix abstract somewhat shocking photos that jar the brain into creating a basis of comprehension to understand what we are viewing with a mix of random text statements of (in my opinion) weird irrational thought, made it appear like you were in a machine that is constantly creating a different narrative. If we could attach some sort of shocking audio effect for each time you cycled the remix it would be interesting. I like the bend of genres included in the remix. The use of text and photos being used on a web platform and adding the machine portion to it by being able to refresh to a new narrative by clicking the button made me feel like I was at a museum or art exhibit and this was one of the pieces of work. I can see people standing there for hours just creating different narratives. I’d like to remix this remix by using the photos from my remix to replace the photos used and adding comedic random threats or statements to make it funny. Really creative.  I don’t know if I can call it a specific type of remix.  It’s alive online, living at a site, it uses random photos from the web and random text statements that create a narrative.  It’s like an illustration but it’s mechanically created by the viewer.  In my opinion the message is supposed to be determined by the viewer, which I think makes it fantastic.  The creator stated he wanted to develop a channel flipping theme highlighting the once great ability to randomly discover an awesome movie or TV show while watching TV. I can remember that great experience of the unexpected as a kid before the GUIDE was invented.  We didn’t know what was going to be playing until we turned to the channel and we stumbled on Conan the Barbarian or The Goonies.  It is somewhat of a cultural comment for me because our culture has lost that fabric of spontaneous consumption.  In his literary piece the author discussed taking the project further and giving it more ability.  It would be cool to have more images, text, and maybe hook it to a printer somehow so every 15 images that are generated with text, a short story narrative will print out for the user to take with them.  If we took it even further as the artist stated and allowed multiple people to submit photos and text I bet we could end up with some pretty interesting

Face Book Open Connect Good or Bad?

I know, I know, how can I be a media major, and not have a Facebook? Yes I am guilty I do not have a Facebook account or a Myspace or a twitter or any of the social sites that people drench their life with.  Honestly, yes I will establish one soon but I am waiting on summer. I have my own feelings about social networking but we will put those aside today.  Posed with the question for the Blog review I had to learn about it so I could talk about it.

Facebook open connect from what I understand allows you to share information about yourself with other sites unconsciously by linking them, making the ability to network easier and thus creating a bigger network.  It pulls its information, from what I understand, from your profile and links it to 3^rd party websites that you are a member of and also allows third party sites activity and information to reflect on your Facebook profile which others can see.  I guess it could be called a mash up because all of this random information is being applied to one platform from multiple sources and is constantly updating and or changing based on behavior or consumption.  I feel the CONS are surrounded by privacy issues and sharing your personal information.  One of the new features is something called Real Identity.  Facebook users submit their real names and with Facebook Connect, your real identity information follows you wherever you go on the Web.  So no more cool fancy user names cloaking who we are.  In my opinion this is CON#1 because your name isn’t the only thing that is shared, your picture, friends, photos, events, and even pre selected groups as well as what other sites you visit can be stored and shared or made relevant. Facebook profile content could also appear on other social sites, and Facebook event listings could possibly sync with external event planning.  Something else they have is called Friends Access – this allows you to see your Facebook friend’s membership to other sites that you may be a part of already.  What if your friends don’t want anyone to know that they are a member of a specific site?  Facebook Connect also features something called dynamic privacy which maintains your profile settings the same for every site.  If you change a setting on one site then it will change for all.  

I only see pros on the business side of the platform.  Creating a bigger network for you as a business owner or service provided ultimately means more business and it seems that with FB open connect the possibilities with communicating, advertising and promoting have just became limitless.  On the reverse I think we may be doing too much by toying with security settings and information sharing.  What concerns me the most, stems from a marketing and advertising aspect.  Consumer behavior is a very hot topic, businesses want to know why we choose the way we choose, why we buy what we buy and what makes us decide on the criteria for a choice.  They use this information to effectively advertise to you and have random advertisements floating at the tops of websites that you visit hoping it will catch your eyes.  I definitely feel we cross the line with privacy and sharing information when using this new feature FB offers.  Like I said from a business stand point, its all green lights but from a security stand point, “stop go the other way.”

Week 9 - “Hip-hop had begun with a deejay and two turntables playing the funkiest parts of records, the break beats”

This was my favorite topic since the start of the class, mainly because I am a Hip Hop junkie in terms of the culture and this really hit home with me.  The media transcript, “They say that I stole this” was not only true in its context and content but was a great counter punch to the hypocrisy of the music industry.  It also posed a perfect question, “Why hasn’t Gregg Gillis been sued?”

Greg Gillis, DJ/Producer of the popular one man band, GIRL TALK, uses samples from top 40 pop radio to create blends and mixes, essentially new music, and provides it for the public.

To understand the article we must understand Piracy, what is it?  Who does it? How does it happen?

Dictionary.com says it’s “the unauthorized reproduction or use of a copyrighted book, recording, television program, patented invention, trademarked product, etc.”

In terms of the article, it focused on a technique that every DJ (Music Producer) uses (If you’re a DJ/Producer and your not sampling then I don’t know) called sampling.  Below I pulled two explanations from the article, one given by Greg Gillis and the other given by legendary Bomb Squad producer/DJ Hank Shocklee that I felt captured perfectly exactly what sampling is.  

Greg Gillis: “It starts off with your drums from Roy Orbison’s Pretty Woman. Then you would hear a verse from a UGK song.  And then you would hear a bass line from Spencer Davis Group. And then you would hear drums that I program myself with drum machines, and you would hear hand claps that come from an Afrika Bambaataa song.”

(Greg creates his “original work” by using these audio rips)  

Hank Shocklee: We will find something in a Tony Bennett record, Charley Pride. If it’s Turkish music we’ll find something. You might find a kick, and it may have come from a classical record. You truncate what you want and then you turn it into whatever, taking a car door slam, and that will become a snare.

What about this sounds illegal?  Hank explains:

Hank Shocklee: “As guys started becoming more and more blatant with the sampling and the records started selling, selling more and more, the producers and writers and publishers started demanding’ royalties. And then it became a business.”

That was the nail in the coffin.  Somebody realized DJ’s were selling or could sell these mixes or mix records and they (the original artists or companies employing the original artists) felt they should get paid for the re use of their original work.  I agree and disagree to a certain point, as did Schocklee and Gillis.

I agree that everyone who creates something should be credited and rewarded for their original work.  But have you ever tried to get sample clearance? (Clearance is when the original artist or publishers give permission for you to use the audio sample they own or created) Schocklee pointed out its extremely difficult and rather expensive.

From personal experience I live in a recording studio for Hip Hop music.  Beat machines, turn tables, both vinyl and CD, microphones, guitars, sound booths, marijuana soaked cabinets, producers, singers, DJ’s and rappers, stereo speakers and a dog named Vader are the elements of my in home remix session that is constantly remixing. (Nice!!)

The owner, lead producer, who goes by Doc Da Mind Benda or DMB, just recently sent out a list of samples to various record companies and publishers requesting clearance legally and received a bill for $12,000 give or take.  Needless to say, our production home itself isn’t worth 12 G’s aside from the equipment.  So we laughed it off and went back to the drawing board.  Now what would have happened it DMB never tried to get clearance?  Would he have been sued for his production, would the industry have waited to see if his release would generate any revenue? What if it did? 

 The Duke Law Professor, James Boyle had some interesting ideas on why Greg and others like him aren’t being sued as of right now.  He said the industry isn’t sure how to handle mass sampling by the many DJ’s and Producers.  Either they say “Let’s let him run a bit, and when we finally see how things are playing out then we’ll figure out a way of getting a revenue stream,” or  “they realize it’s actually fair use and they don’t want a bad precedent brought against them,” or “they are gibbering in terror and are so scared by this new phenomena, they’re incapable of rational action of any kind and so are caught in a kind of fugue state, as the digital music scene develops.”  

Either way we don’t stop sampling, we don’t stop creating and there will always be a way for someone to hear what we do without paying for it.  So with this exception to the rule mentality and fair use battling copyright on every corner, will there ever be a free media society?  The remix is what revolutionizes the art form.  Media use can’t be controlled or regulated because art is life and inspirations come from everywhere, as long as you have the tools to manipulate it and the ear to recognize sound a remix is bound to happen.      

Leonardo Da Vinci “The Last Supper” vs Pop Culture’s Influence Remix By Robert Colon

We as People, as a society that consumes media, have a desire and thirst to “know” and “see” anything and everything regarding specific topics of popular culture.  Especially those who are extreme pop culture fans like the followers of fan fiction, or extreme media developers and analysts. We search for media like scavengers, ranging from a variety of topics every minute and hour of everyday.  Even the casual non-pop culture fans and those who are just generally interested in whatever is happening follow popular culture.  Popular culture is defined as something that is popular on a mass level and can range from music, news, movies, politics, fashion, TV and Sports, to electronics, world events, automotive, and even communication methods. Cultural icons, musicians, TV and movie stars, news broadcasters and even business entities are “followed” (maintaining a continuous streaming knowledge of) without fail as we get updated in minutes using various internet sites and media applications that track our favorite popular topics.   Popular Culture is on an all time high.  Popular social media sites like Twitter and Face book to name a few, have altered the ability to increase popularity and has provided a platform for everyone to know.  TV, radio, Internet, and the ability to translate communication to thousands instantaneously have launched popular culture to a platform of endless limitations.  Media articles, blogs, video blogs, live broadcasts, audio and live audio, printed publications and instant message communications has helped certain popular icons and culture reach such a level of notoriety that the popularity and influence could be said to have surpassed religion in terms of mass influence.

I wanted to create a remix that highlighted this idea.  I wanted a remix that captured the attention of the viewer based on its historical context.  Next I wanted a remix that mashed a powerful scene of important revolutionizing religious history with characters of present time that carry the same notoriety. I wanted to change not only the theme but also the production of the work, since I don’t have a wall, models of Jesus, or the skill to paint fresco like Da Vinci.  I also wanted to swap the apostles and Jesus with iconic figures to parallel their ability to be influential and highlight how popular culture is now just as, if not more relevant and powerful than religion is.  So in all, I remixed the original meaning or theme of “The Last Supper” by Leonardo Da Vinci, I remixed the production of the original work, I remixed the cast of iconic characters and the role of the viewer. If you see the examples below my remix work, I wasn’t the first and most likely won’t be the last.

The original meaning of “The Last Supper” by Leonardo Da Vinci is said to portray the reactions given by each apostle after Jesus said one of them would betray him.  The original work depicts all twelve apostles surrounding Jesus and their reactions to his statement.  I was compelled to use this image as a foundation because it captured Jesus, the most iconic figure of his time during a time where religion was in revolution.  I wanted to capture this same effect but twist it to highlight certain aspects within the primary theory, that pop culture is now more influential than religion.  First it was important to capture the platform that popular culture has reached by placing these characters in an environment or scene that was iconic and carried meaning on its own.  I feel since our lifestyles and our personalities are impacted so much by pop culture or pop culture icons it would be fitting for the remix to parallel a time in history where popular culture and mass influence was challenging restrictions and what people were accustom to and then bring it back to present time using characters that we know and most likely follow.  When you view the remix and view the expressions of each of the characters and their arrangement it changes the theme almost immediately pending the viewer, which I thought provided a nice exit for any pre existing constraints.   

Next we look at how the original work was done.  Leonardo Da Vinci did the original using new materials during that time period Instead of using tempera on wet plaster, which was the norm for that era of art.  Instead Da Vinci used dry plaster and painted on the plaster.  For my medium I used a black and white print out of the original from Google, which since the original has been restored a countless amount of times its almost a remix in itself.  I also used the cut out heads of pop icons in a collage style, taken from various magazines.  I also used the I Phone digital camera to capture the image and uploaded it into a digital photo program to make it reproducible.  The cut outs included the rapper, Eminem in the central seat of Jesus solidifying the role of one of the most iconic figure in pop culture to date. Oprah appears to the right of Eminem in the seat of Mary Magdalene, which is controversial on its own merit. Charlie Sheen appears to the far left and is depicted to be pleading his case to an unknown character that is separated from Sheen by Spider-Man.  This character that is cut out of the remix symbolizes those who are affected by pop culture indirectly.  Lil Wayne is seated next to the character that does not have a pop icon face, which represents the viewer, and is also grouped with Sean “Diddy” Combs, and Drake that are seated to the right of Barack Obama.  The character that is seated with Lil Wayne that does not have a pop icon face covering it represents us, the consumer of media and reflects how we would behave in a room seated at the table with these characters.  Kanye West, Justin Bieber, and Jay-Z are grouped to the left of Eminem.  All of the characters represent a different power and have a high level of fame, notoriety, influence and iconic status.  As the viewer you are forced to look at the work from a different perspective or in different context.  The original captured the reaction of betrayal at a time of despair, the remix captured the intensity of the original and translated it to the intensity of pop culture, the power of a pop star and its influence.

Popular Culture has now reached such a level of acceptance that it is able to interchangeably cross over into politics and world events and has forced the establishment of societal guidelines that have changed how we as civil humans operate our lives, especially the youth.  A perfect example is Egypt and their recent revolution.  We can look at how something as minute as Face Book or Internet communication has changed history on a mass level forever.  Figures of popular culture are now more influential and their lives are followed daily.  We mimic their behavior and image; we follow and read their blogs and stories like religious literature.  When was the last time you read or talked to someone about religion or the bible?

Source Material:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Supper_%28Leonardo_da_Vinci%29#Medium

http://arthistory.about.com/cs/leonardo/a/last_supper.htm

Adobe Photoshop CS 5

I Phone Camera

The Source. 2011 April

XXL. 2011 April

People.  2011 March

Open Work

I have to admit, I am not one for all the philosophy discussion and understanding the deeper meaning “stuff” so instead of summarizing the whole article or picking out certain points I wanted to pick one reading and get the “just” of the article and then find something that captures that to help illustrate.  After Reading the article by Umberto Eco, I found a quote from Pousseur that I felt captured the importance of the article, which in my opinion was how the individual performer improvises certain works when free performing.  Obviously his explanation was 15 pages and mine was a sentence so feel free to comment after you check out my examples.  The quote says “the “open” work tends to encourage “acts of conscious freedom” on the part of the performer and place him at the focal point of a network of limitless interrelations.”

I agree one hundred percent, so much I had to spell out one hundred percent.  Being a musician, more in the digital world, unfortunately, this article made alot more sense then previous readings I guess because I was able to relate so much.  For example look at the clip below of Kanye West performing live, using a song called “Power” which we know well via radio or commercial MTV.  In the clip Kanye performs the song vs playing the song.  He performs live using his MPC which is the beat machine of choice.  Listen to see if you can hear the obvious variations when compared to the original.  The MPC, just to high light is a sampling machine that allows the user to capture sounds and store them to “touch buttons” and then play them in a rhythmic melody by tapping the buttons to produce the sound.  To relate it to the quote, Kanye has an open forum, he is presented with the original music and note groupings and he understands the lyrics for the song.  Being that some parts of the song are so powerful in content he manipulates certain climaxes to entertain the crowd.  He takes the original and opens it up to transitions that are free and conscious.  Understanding these points as a musician is critical. 

Kanye West-Power- Freestyling on MPC (via Herbie050)

To tie the readings into the blog question for the week, which is to describe the pros and cons of free culture/media or is it in our best interest to keep it regulated?

From an artist stand point, I would say I am on the fence 50/50.  I have heard some artists redo or remake or remix certain classics and they make a complete mockery of the art that was captured in the original, which can be considered art in itself but for sake of the argument, if your gonna jack it (remix it) then you gotta make it hot!  However I have also seen situations where a certain classic that normally wouldn’t even be touched out of respect for the orig. actually captured the original essence and improved on it, or at least a mockery wasn’t made of it.  See below for example of Tpain remixing a Michael Jackson classic, this is one of those 50/50 situations, Tpain used Auto tune and remade MJ’s PYT (A notorious classic, I dont think he did it justice, but take a listen.)

Full Song: T-Pain & Robin Thicke’s AutoTune remake of Michael Jackson’s P.Y.T - OKd by Quincy Jones (via Born2WinMai)

To sum it up, I cant say whether I would want or would not want a free media or open culture era, it might produce some “dope” remixes but might also give birth to allowing “wack” remixes to take place.  I guess it would depend on my motive.  When it comes to music we either want to take a classic and learn from it which progresses the art form or learn from a song that flopped but to say anyone can remake anything without permission no matter how they do it is too extreme. 

Pinnochio’s Theory Response

To analyze the reading and respond I wanted to capture what I felt were the most important statements in the reading.  I found three that really contained the essence of the writing, which to me was to illustrate how photography even before it became digital, has changed and can be considered a responsible prototype for a post industrial fully programmed world.  

1) “Photography represents a higher degree of abstraction than writing….”

- I believe that is correct, writing although it produces and challenges the imagination to think vividly on what the author is portraying, lacks the essence of mistake, and the essence of raw art and doesn’t contain the technical forms of reproduction.  A photograph depends on light, image, foreground,  background, shadows, posture, placement, time, weather etc.. Then after the picture is taken it goes through multiple production procedures and if it is to be reproduced then it will take on even more. 

 2) “A photograph doesn’t represent the scene, person, or object being photographed, so much as it represents, and fulfills, the program of the photographic apparatus itself”

- Agreed.  Like all art techniques, certain criteria and guidelines, procedures and methods, rules and systems have been established and must be met and followed for it to be considered correct in technique and to be given credit for the “good picture.”  One could argue that their specific procedure is or would be free of system and program however even the rookie photographer follows a few rules of thumb.   

3) “A philosophy of photography must reveal the fact that there is no place for human freedom within the area of automated, programmed, and programming apparatuses,”

- I really enjoy that quote.  Photographers goal is to capture the raw abstract bizarre artistic emotional feelings and character of the visualizations they are photographing.  However one could say the program has almost influenced how to correctly capture these attributes.  

Analysis:  Would you agree that Photography and its production/reproduction stages in its entirety could serve as a blueprint to a fully programmed  world? 

Flusser said the only way to rid ourselves of the programmed world is to forget about what it once was, give up all illusions and invent a new practice, is the only way to obtain freedom.

WHATS THE DEMO M.O. J.K?

Its funny that I did this but I am almost glad I did.  I read the HPA interview first and then the J.K. Rowling piece.  So imagine how funny it was to my suprise, being completely new to Harry Potter other than the common knowledge of, that the author who is successful based on what her fans enjoy would be so vengeful.  I would think she would endorse the book of HP content and even offer to do autograph signings and public appearances for charity to further grow the brand and product.  Seems like she took a whole other route.  I understand and respect certain points she made about the outcome affecting what future authors will allow and offer but even more so for her to be a leader and pave the way for authors in the future.  I dont know I guess I am not in her shoes but I would endorse the book, the idea, and the future ability of fans and super fans to grow with authors they love or are inspired by.  Money is the root of all evil, I wonder if Andrew can use a parallel from one of the HP books to slam the authors motives.  OOOO that would be nice. 

Dumbledores Army has made me a Soldier!

I dont know if I should be bragging about this as a 27 year old college student, that I am juiced to join Dumbledore’s Army and their honorable (<—-felt like that that word fit perfect) mission, but in this case an outkasting from my social “in” crowd might be ok.  After reading the Henry Jenkins interview with Andrew Slack I was astonished by the movement the HPA (Harry Potter Alliance) has built, their cause and reach, their support and dedication to changing and impacting social issues using lessons from the movies and books to highlight their agenda.   It not only reaches the youth on a direct level but it also unites fans world wide of all age, gender and personality making the ability to spread the message and program that much easier, quicker and deliver with the biggest impact.  Its communication networking at its highest level.  Together they have united to challenge all types of social issues and lend their support to good causes across the globe.  A statistical quote from Jenkins “One can’t argue with the success of this group which has deployed podcasts and Facebook to capture the attention of more than 100,000 people, mobilizing them to contribute to the struggles against genocide in Darfur or the battles for worker’s rights at Wall-Mart or the campaign against Proposition 8 in California” was a direct example of just how the HPA has impacted political issues and remained in positive light while continuing to build their message.  By the end of the interview being that I am such a media junky and promoter I figured I would lend my helpful hand and do more to promote the name “HPA” and tell more to get familiar with what they do.  Its only right.

COMIC CON FAN FICTION

I have to admit I was struggling to find a “fan fiction” community to blog about and I didnt want to “bite” any topics from anyone else.  Then it hit me like a Jet Li back fist!!. SMACK!@# COMIC CON.!!#!!

The main website is http://www.comicon.com/ but I also found another example, its from the New York Convention which I should note there are several “chapters” if you will of the comic con, wiki pedia sites a few.  http://www.newyorkcomiccon.com/

Also if you got a few, check this artist as he does a crazy style chalk drawing of the cartoon “Yugi OH”!! Shit was Hott!

NY Comic Con Yu Gi Oh Chalk Art Timelapse.mov (via pepperink4242)

Comic Con is the worlds biggest comic book convention and its also an organization. Its a four day event that happens annually.  It started out showcasing comics but the convention has expanded and now includes pop culture genres like horror, anime, animation, toys, video games and fantasy novels and books.  Its where comic fans join together to celebrate every character that has ever appeared in comics, cartoons, movies or video games, even action figures  from Marvel to DC COMICS.  Fans flock to the conventions year in and year out, some fans even come dressed in their favorite characters attire or come as exact look a likes of the well known heroes like Spider Man and The Punisher.  Movies like Star Wars, Star Trek, and Pirates of the Caribbean feature well known characters that can be seen in full costume attending the convention.  This is more of my realm, I grew up on GI JOE, Thunder Cats, X Men, Ninja Turtles, Spider Man, Super Man, Batman and all the other crime fighting super heroes.  I will have to rep and say I think this is the coolest of them all but that’s just me.  I will however admit that I am blown away by the reach and ability of the HPA (Harry Potter Association) You can hear me rant and rave about them in my post about how Dumbledore’s Army is changing the world.  I have never known or heard of them prior to today.  I think their mission is awesome and I might silently.  Shhh.  Silently, Join.