Artistic Thinking Week 2

Remix Manifesto

What a great documentary! I think it was interesting to here the different perspectives, knowing where I typically stand on this topic, I must admit, I was talking to the documentary. maybe even a little arguing :) But I found myself very intrigued and almost hypocritical at times. My theories about music and art are so drastically different and for NO GOOD REASON. This was a great way to help me think of the music perspective in a totally different light. But I still think if you are going to make music, learn to do it with a real instrument first... then you'll never want to make it with a computer... you will have gained the kind of authentic appreciation that music deserves. But I do give kuddos to those who have made an "art" out of creating music with a computer, I know that they too have worked very hard to develop the skill they have. But nothing can beat the real thing!

Brainstorming:
"The rules of this game don't depend on who made the song, they depend on who owns the copyright." ~Brett Gaylor. Being brought up by a family full of musicians, this is a very disputed topic. I simply kept thinking how I tell my students everyday, "artists borrow and steal ideas all the time, then make them their own- They should take it as a compliment." In my home we were taught that you should not rip music, you should pay for it because you are taking from that artist. I am on the fence on this topic. Part of me says yes and then part of me says no. I am here to inspire a generation whose imagination was created by tv and computer graphics. Their imaginations weren't developed by playing outside, quiet time reading and drawing like mine. They have a techno imagination, and with that comes the exposure to many different ideas, many of which were copied from other ideas. Which explains why so many are perfectly fine with borrowing to their hearts content, and settling for a not so original idea. So what ideas are left? As teachers we borrow ideas daily. My whole curriculum is based off of the genius of others, but with a "Schotte Twist."  This documentary brought up a fantastic point, about how all ideas/products are based and built from other ideas. This is part of how society grows and develops, to take ideas and make them better.

"The creative process became more important than the product, because consumers were now creators making the folk art of the future." ~Brett Gaylor. His thoughts here take me to a totally different thought process - like action art. I'm not a great understander of certain types of art, but I totally create projects with every grade level specifically for the process, not the product.

"Ideas are intellectual property" ~Brett Gaylor. If you are willing to put something out there it will get used, borrowed, stolen, manipulated and/or abused, without a thank you. But as I tell my kiddos take it as a compliment because we wouldn't steal a bad idea.

Copyright has now been manipulated for profit, and to an extent, it is out of control. I feel for all those who were sued because of Nabster. "I stole this music fair and square" ~a remix artist. As an artist from many different perspective this sentence is plain and simple... and just.  But I always try to give credit for work where it is due, and I pass that on to my students each day. We cannot take credit for something we didn't do, no matter what the art. These remix artists have worked very hard to "remix" someone elses hard work, and credit for that work is due to all the participants, even if they unwilling were put in to the remix.

Classroom use: I personally feel my students are still a bit young to fully grasp the argument at hand~ this is when I wish I had older students because I could take this idea a lot further.
*Create a mesh up- using 3 famous art pieces to create your own art. Example: mesh up "Starry Night" "The Mona Lisa" and "The Scream".
*Question/Discussion: When is it okay to use someone elses idea? How would you feel if someone else used your idea? How would you feel if that person won some kind of an award for their work, which included your idea?
*Still working on a third idea...