Renegades

My main goal in creating this project was not only to produce an album which would be enjoyable for the audience I chose, but also to have some degree of social relevance and value. In keeping with this concept, I chose to title my mix tape project "Anthems for Revolution." The audience I chose is a friend who takes interest in current issues involving human rights struggles and humanitarian efforts. I chose songs that raise questions with regard to social, political, and moral issues and call for change and justice. I wanted the album to make listeners examine the world they live in, their understanding of it, and even themselves. That may be a bit beyond the reach of what a simple mix tape can accomplish, but I feel that the topic is quite important given the current state of the world we live in. Genocide, racism, poverty, violence, and political corruption are present in nations throughout the world, and it seems that Americans, in their sphere of relative wealth and comfort, tend to forget that such evils exist and even ignore the social injustices that are occurring right before their eyes. Making a mix tape with songs that address these issues is fairly trivial, but it at least creates an opportunity for questions to be raised. My target length was 90 minutes, which translated to 18 songs split between two discs. I chose songs based on the issues they raised and the effectiveness of their emotion and message. Most of the songs I chose were not in my music library before this project which aided me in avoiding the temptation of simply putting songs on a disc that I like and am intimately familiar with. I chose songs that aligned with one of two categories: songs that provoke thought and songs that incite action. The first disk represents "thought" and begins with a somewhat mournful and brooding tone. Over the course of the disk, the mood becomes more tense and pointedly angry. The second disk, which represents "action," has a poignant tone of criticism and dissidence. The climax is delivered in the form of "War Within' a Breath" by Rage Against the Machine, which is the most dramatic call to arms (be it taken literally or figuratively) on the mix tape. "If I Was President" By Wycleff Jean serves as the denouement. It is a reminder that change still depends on the individual empowering one's self and becoming intent on making a difference. Discussion is good and important, but only constitutes wishful thinking without action. For the liner notes, I used quotes from leaders, philosophers, and political activists as well as instances of political and social injustice to reinforce the message of the mix tape. For example, one track listing was followed by information about South African protesters who were massacred at Sharpseville by white police officers while partaking in a peaceful demonstration. If the music provided by the mix tape in conjunction with the liner notes can raise some degree of social awareness or interest, the mix tape will have served a purpose beyond simply providing casual music.

Scissor Hands

First, there was Vehement criticism of not just politicians. Must be prepared to face harsh streets. Police opened fire and momentous changes without sometimes even unfair and ill-founded criticism. Persons on a single day, October. Then there were people openly critical from the media, because it is extremely difficult. His rarest political interventions of imagination, initiative and flexibility prove the actual malice standard necessary for their Charusathien deputy prime minister. China. China's admission to the libel suit to succeed by the extremely well regarded individual, some opposition leaders congratulated 1990s primary sources of libel trouble for elecof. The Supreme court and adviser visit China. The open discussion of the tronic media were "shock jocks" such asnya was then the rector of Tham. Much for the military and radio call in shows (because liconfidence of the students) with dismissing Thanat Khoman abrogating. Cencees are liable for any defamation spoken. Students rejoice over the power to solving the National Assembly institute. The air by those calling in to preform wonders through asonal freedoms and reverting to the well being of the common clique and rests of the bureaucratic-military.

P.S.

P.S.-Did you hear the one about the airplane? Never mind, its over your head. POW!!! Man, after that I bet you don't even know what to do. That's some heavy throwdown action.

Subliminal Kid

I really like the stylistic choices which Paul Miller made in constructing his book. I think that the title gives an implied substantiation of value to the art of sampling. By making it a science, Miller says that it requires skill, ingenuity, precision, and vision. He creates a scenario in which sampling goes beyond a simple cut and paste methodology, but requires a specialized tactfulness in the arrangement of sound and meaning. Also, I feel that the green pages give a rhythm to the flow of the book. They seem to come at set intervals and reiterate previous themes in much the same way that a certain loop will flow throughout a song to create continuity. The hole seems to be a paradoxical reference and allusion to our attempts to fix meaning within text, music, and other art forms. The physical center point of the book is missing and the reason for this is open to interpretation. In a similar way, no distinct axial point of definition can ever be fixed for a text. Many different people will fill in the "gap" in different ways, making it impossible for there to ever truly be a center point. Miller leaves it up to the reader to attempt to fill this central deficit. I think that it is very bold and effective for Miller to have chosen such a conceptual and non-traditional method of creating a text. His book, in many ways, reflects the features and flow of the topic it is discussing.

Cool and The Establishment

It seems that there are several inherent problems with Governor Granholm's "Cool Cities" campaign. The first dilemma is a misunderstanding of the definition of "cool." Cool is indicative to a culture which challenges social norms, mainstream thinking, or the establishment. When "the Man" picks up this culture for use as a means of attaining a goal of the establishment, the culture ceases to be cool. There is an inherent duality in the definition of cool. When it loses its controversial aspects and ceases to be a means of challenging the mainstream, it loses its essence. By being assimilated into the mainstream, it loses the aspects that make it cool. A second problem with the campaign is the demographic it appeals to. It is presented mainly on the digital platform of the Internet and intended to attract successful, white suburbanites. The culture which it uses to attract this group is drawn from African American music. Yet the campaign largely ignores making any attempt to appeal to African Americans. The medium which it uses for promotion is not readily available to many members of the inner-city African American groups. It appears that their culture is being exploited to appeal to and appease socially and economically prosperous white groups. The true meaning of this "cool culture" is being reduced to a promotional image. It seems that the efforts of the Cool Cities campaign would be better spent in an attempt to improve inner city life for those who already inhabit the streets of urban Detroit. Why exploit a culture in an attempt to appeal to mainstream-white ideals while failing to recognize, support, or give benefit to the source of said culture beyond trivializing and stereotyping its heritage? It may not be intentional, but the campaign is explicitly racist. What conclusion should urban African Americans draw from this campaign beyond, "White suburbanites are more socially valuable than you?" The campaign is ridiculous. It is unlikely that many will be convinced by an institutionalized notion of "coolness." Furthermore, for an establishment to rape a culture, of which it is not a part, for commercial use and to give no direct benefit to the group that is the origin of that culture is unavoidably racist.

Copyrighting the Brushstrokes

I found this experience of creating more artistic definitions of copyright to be provocative in several different dimensions. First of all, it forces one to truly look at how they feel with regards to copyright law. I feel that I had to examine my thoughts quite carefully in order to effectively translate them into a visual format without the aid of words for explanation. I feel that showing a viewpoint is much more difficult than simply stating it, but also much more interesting. Also, the project forced those who undertook it to deal with the problem of deciding if derivative works, which use copyrighted materials, can be considered works of art. I feel that there can be artwork which is created using previously created material as a basis. However, it is difficult to draw the line between what would be considered an artistic use of copyrighted material and what would simply constitute copying. When you look at the situation literally, using copyrighted material to create a derivative work is analogous to plagiarism. However, for some reason that is hard to define, I feel like derivative works have a far greater potential for creative value than does plagiarism.

I tend to feel that copyright often allows for a larger entity to, for all intents and purposes, tread on the individual. It seems that those who have expressed creativity in a way which creates some form of derivative work are usually fervently pursued by copyright-holding corporations who claim to have lost enormous sums of money. These companies usually desire compensation and attempt to strong arm individuals into fairly lucrative settlements ( from the company's standpoint). More disturbing, in my mind, than the attempts to stifle those who would build off of existing ideas is the fairly prevalent trend of forsaking creativity for profitability. It seems that many of the art forms of today, including music and movies, tend to create products rather than art. Music, for example, seems to be produced from a formula for chart success. once something is found which sells, creativity is abandoned in favor of reproducing the tried and tested profit-producing formula. It seems that there are fewer and fewer artists who are willing to exhibit truly original expression mainly because it just isn't as profitable as "manufacturing art." This, I feel, is the biggest shortcoming of the copyright system. It encourages artists to abandon themselves, what they stand for, and, often, their most loyal fan base. Overall, I feel that copyright is an institution which is based upon procuring profit for the production of marketable thoughts, ideas, and creations. It is an unavoidable condition of capitalism. However, I do feel that the protection it provides to creative works of all kinds is, to some degree, necessary.

For the project, I tried to illustrate the implicit connection between copyright law and monetary gain. Also, I attempted to illustrate what I feel are the effects of copyright and money on the creative spirit. I Feel that the first work, which used any image, was easier to create. This is mainly due to the fact that there were enormous amounts of ready-made images at my disposal. The second work, however, was able to maintain the point of the first work fairly well. I feel that the first project is currently a more effective statement, but had I sketched original artwork or taken original photographs, I feel that the second could have potentially been more powerful. This is mainly because I would have been able to create my own images solely for the purpose of illustrating my point, as opposed to recycling images and attempting to make them fit. As a whole, the project helped me to further understand the value of derivative works as legitimate creative entities.

Oppressors Mourn; Freedom to the VHS

So, I have been reflecting more on the monumental Sony Decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that Sony was not guilty of facilitating copyright infringement by producing VHS copying machines. I believe Lessig touches on this case at some point in his discussion. This was a controversial decision, as the ability to make copies of VHS tapes greatly increased the ease with which one could mass produce and sell said copies. However, when one really stands back and examines the big picture, the decision seems straight forward and appropriate. Would it be sensible to try the CEO of a gun company as an accessory to murder because one of his products was used in violence? Would it be fair to accuse a plastics company of involvement in drug trafficking because some of the syringes the produce end up in the hands of heroine addicts. Obviously, I believe companies should be accountable for the safety of the products they manufacture, but when a legitimate product is abused, the individual who abuses it becomes responsible. This is not to say that all of the people who use copying machines to back up their collections and so forth are doing anything questionable, but those producing and profiting from large quantities of copies should be punished, if anyone. It is this small minority alone that is even conceivably guilty of any wrong doing. I am really tired. The end (it seemed a bit heavy, so I thought maybe the mood should be lightened a bit).