Okay, so today’s session opened with a prolonged remix of music. Strange at first, of unfamiliar (to me) songs .. until good’ ol John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ kicked in under the slow-jammed bass of the track, grabbing everyone’s attention and ‘ahhhhhh yes’ moment. It provided the laughs and got the energy flowing for the next hour and so.
Before we truly started into the lectorial, Dan and the class I think all agreed on the notion that there is no such thing as an original idea anymore. But! This isn’t to say that all art and media forms are dead. Through the deconstruction and ripping apart of old ideas or artefacts, new ones can be created and be given new meanings.

Daniel  took us through an extensive, insightful and thought-provoking presentation about remixes, mash-ups and the history and technology behind these concepts. Loved it. He mentioned the likes of Walter Benjamin (German philosopher and cultural critic) and E.Navas – the man behind the Remix Theory. The later of which we took a journey through the evolution and development of remixes and mash-ups across the world.

(side note) Ahhhhh more comedic relief. Not even half an hour into the lectorial, the presentation was interrupted by a growing sea of John Travolta pelvic thrusting to a collection of 1960s disco tunes. Don’t worry this all made sense in the context of the presentation. Lels provided.

As mush as I can admit to loving a good remix, sampling, or re-working of a song/s – I do think there are particular circumstances in which a ‘remix’ cannot be classified as originally created or thought of. Meaning, go make a better or more intelligent arrangement of music that you essentially didn’t create. However in complete contrast, there are also examples of musical remixes that definitely deserve the title of being original pieces of art/media. Prime example, Girl Talk’s This Is The Remix, or any of his other compilations. Girl Talk, aka Gregg Michael Gillis, completely strips down a variety of songs of different genre, all to piece them together to create something completely fresh and new. And. It. Is. On. Point. When listening, you may not even be able to recognise half the songs that are actually incorporated into his new song/remix. Amazing. But you can also find out those samples that you can’t quite name in his songs here. He is truly talented and also, as cited by The New York Times, “a lawsuit waiting to happen”. This is where the lines all start to blur between copyright infringement and creative expression, the whole other debated and dark side to the world of producers, remixers and DJs.. and lawyers.