Remix Culture

Remix Culture

One of the biggest issues that arises with remix art is the issue of ‘Remix vs. Plagiarism.” When does a remixed work become an original work of art? Is the work considered original as soon as it is tweaked or when it is unrecognizable? Neither, a work is unique when its purpose and meaning transcends that of the original? Works like Montgomery Lee’s “Copyright Symphony” takes a variety of images and uses them to create music out of the imbedded data on the photographs. The work can be considered his own because he had given the images new meaning by placing them together. And by turning the photos into music they are no longer photographs, instead they are musical instruments which together create something completely original.

Even something as simple as adding animation on top of recorded sound allowed a work to become remixed. Kota Ezawa added simple animation on top of the recording from the First OJ “Simpson Trial” and by doing so, he took something that was meant to be a recording solely for court records and turned it into a dramatic narrative that conveys many of the emotions displayed by the defense and prosecution when the final verdict was read.

Michael Robinson’s “Light is Waiting” took a simple, wholesome episode of Full House and turned it into a nightmare like, acid trip gone wrong. Once again Robinson, much like Ezawa and Lee, took a piece of work that stands alone by itself and turned it into something completely. Robinson remixed the work beyond recognition.

When one thinks of a remix, usually they are reminded of the Music Industry’s practice of slightly changing and re-releasing a single multiple times in order to capitalize on the popularity of a song. It is pretty much a given that m...

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... confesses some of her darkest thoughts to who ever may be paying attention.

Improv Everywhere follows along this same line with their exploration of public space. They try and bring people together within these public spaces through their ridiculous sketches and ‘improvisations’. By filming their endeavors within their public space they are providing their own surveillance cameras and can choose to film what they want within this already surveyed space.

As technology continues to grow and expand, the questions brought up by Krauss and Mann will only continue to fuel debate. The newest public space being investigated through art is the Internet. Privacy comes into question more and more often with the advent of Facebook, Youtube and Chat Roulette. Artist like the Lonely Girl 15 and “Merton the Chat Roulette Piano Guy” continue to explore this new public space.