The Remix and The Glitch

A BLOG POST

After doing the readings on remix’s this morning I entered the lectorial with a frame of reference relating to what we would be studying.  In a similar way to editing, in sampling, things are also broken into parts and put together in order to create new meaning.

Another thing that was established was that there is ‘no such thing as an original idea’ we can always deliver content in new and interesting ways but the content is often an adaptation of something else. This correlates to Star Wars and its influences. Star Wars when released wasn’t an adaptation of any particular text, however it borrowed and used tropes from the genre of sci-fi and took classic shots from old films, in some cases frame for frame.

It’s kind of interesting how the Oscars and Cannes adore intertextuality, yet The Grammy’s absolutely despise it (you cannot win record of the year if you sample). I wonder why it’s ok for one medium (movies) to blatantly borrow elements from previous texts but not for the other.

A certain thing I really enjoyed in this lectorial was when Dan talked about Walter Benjamin, who concerned himself with new ideas of representation and posed questions such as: How does reproducing something change the original artefact? For example, if we watch the Great Gatsby film, will we view the original novel in a different way, a different light? On top of these ideas Wally Benjamin questioned the authenticity of ‘original’ texts.  Dan also used Walter as an example of someone who was living the very history he was writing about. Dan spoke about this to get rid of the stigma that old academics lived boring, constrained lives.

Another thing Dan spoke of was the idea of social media as being authentic. Questions were posed such as: Could you argue that living in or on social media than living in the real world? Is there more ‘aura’ on social media? You are getting a sense of somewhat through their various social mediums, does this add to the aura? Is this a more pure mode of engagement, seeing what people want us to see? I tend to think that there is a difference between someone’s perceived self-image and who they actually are. And that the most authentic way to connect with someone is face to face.

Notes from the lectorial (un-edited)

• Images and words can very often achieve the same ends.
• Sequels and spin-offs were very prominent in the 1930/40’s. Right now we are in a glut of sequels and spin offs.
• Printing press=mass culture and spread of ideas.
• In the 1930’s new ideas of representation struck Walter Benjamin, how does reproducing something change the original artefact? How is it authentic?
• Any copy is dependent of its source, a copy lacks the originals environment, history and concept.
• Benjamin’s concept of the aura is little more than a feeling, it is linked by experience.
• We talk about social media as being in-authentic, yet it is about connecting with people. It is somewhat real. An aura of a person can’t be captured in a single twitter. How do we integrate this stuff into our experience of the world.
• Benjamins example of aura: can you capture the moment? You can mass produce it!
• How authentic is the reproduction of the original?
• NADAS
• Control c and control v. The more popular of the radio announces would be payed to be human jukeboxes and they would just play songs so people could socialise.
• Listened to funk
• Artists would release extended versions of their songs mixed by DJ’s.
• Content and form is when the remix become its own discourse, linked with its own media culture.
• Information sharing=remix culture.
• Consumers now creators
• Public domain=free ideas, build on each other’s ideas.
• You can’t argue your creativity when its based on somebody else’s stuff
• Culture is built on the past
• Activity Girl Talk Sample
• La Di Da Di (5^th most sampled song ever)
• ‘don’t you look good tonight!’
• INXS ‘I need you tonight’
• I want you back
• Cecilia
• U2
• Justin Timberlake
• You can see mash up breakdown on website. Mashupbreakdown.com
• Our comprehension of allegory is based on our previous experience or our ability to revisit the artwork. When you recognise a reference in a film signifies the end of historical representation, we understand intertextuality to well?
• Remix is about reconfiguring form and not just content.
• Mad men: Pop Art-Osterworld Pop Art.
• Pop is more than an ethos than an aesthetic
• Pop artists cut up consumer culture made it something new, put it in the box.
• The internet as a network relies entirely on sampling.
• We can remix everything on the internet, this moment of the birth of the new is the quest of all art making. In a world where there is no more ideas, how can something completely new be created?