Objective:
- Examine your own and others values and paradigms of ownership and authorship of cultural media.
In the artifact for this chapter we were given directions to find a quiet place and write down the words that came to mind when we thought about being an artist. We were then told to search for those words on Google images and create a collage. The artifact below is that collage and the words that go with it.
Artifact:
Ten words: (top to bottom and left to right)
Expression, Perspective, Passion
Creative, Imagination, Serenity, Spirituality
Change, Love, Talent
Reflection:
I was very intrigued by the idea of copyright culture brought up in this chapter. In his essay, Larry Lessig compares and contrasts the difference between what he calls “RO” culture and “RW” culture, and it was interesting to look at that world as someone who aspires to be part of the “RO” but is currently in the “RW” (2008, 84). Of course, I would love to someday be able to make money off of my creations, but I also know that without the freedom to express myself, I would never be where I am today.
In fact, I feel like so much of art is remixing of things we’ve already seen. I study a lot of medieval literature as an English major, and it is interesting that, in that time, art was more admirable if it could be linked directly to something already produced. For example, nearly all of the tales in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales are reproductions of tales told by previous writers. We live in a culture now where we prize creativity, but in copyright culture, we are taking decisions away from the creators and preventing new creators from finding their niche.
Hopefully, someday I make it as an artist, either a writer or a musician. And if so, this chapter will be one of the things that drives me to opening up my art to people who want to use it to grow as artists themselves. Copyright is a major part of all mediums of art, but I the true meaning of art to me is the “translation” to future generations of artists (Grey, 2001, 75).