Remixalot

When I read, look or listen to something these days I can see what may have influenced this idea. There is always something somewhere that inspired someone, and that had an influence on their own idea. Does an influence make something unoriginal? No, I don't think it does at all.

When reading Lawrence Lessig's "Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Community" Lessig begins talking about the remix culture from the standpoint of inspiration. People are constantly inspired by what is around them, and use other peoples ideas and opinions as a starting place for their own to form. This type of thought evolution can be sticky, because as Lessig points out, copyright laws become a pretty big issue. However, Lessig made me start thinking about why other people take it negatively when someone enjoys their idea enough to cite it, or expand on it, or refer to it.

It's kind of an insane concept (people getting perturbed when others want to borrow or expand their ideas) because it has been happening for hundreds of years. Stravinsky, Beethoven, and many other well known composers would take a theme or a melody from someone else's work and expand on it to make a whole symphony, or quote a theme to honor another composer that they admire, or to use it for contextual support.

While many could look at copyright as a limitation, I think it would be best to look at it like a challenge. How can one jump through the loopholes, trick the system, and still use other people's material. Many people such a Girl Talk , I say people because I feel uncomfortable calling him a musician, become master remixers, cutting and pasting music and sounds, finding similarities within different pieces and creating a whole new experience. The music changes meaning, and Lessig talks about this. This remixing is everywhere in every form.

Currently many clothing and apparel stores are taking a green initiative and getting creative. Upcycling is the new term being used by many clothing manufactures when they take old clothes, cut them up and paste them back together to create a new garment without creating new fabric. Many designers on etsy.com use this process of clothing making as it a green, less expensive way of making high quality items with high quality fabrics.

So remix. Use, borrow, steal, hijack, pocket, expand, twist. Just be creative about it.