RiP: A Remix Manifesto

I really enjoyed this movie, it was so informative on so many levels. It really reignites your hatred toward corporate America. Since the dawn of time the wealthy have always been in control and today the wealthy just happen to be corporations. That’s nothing new but the rate at which information is spread today really can shed light on the shady ways those in power maintain control.

I think it is a real privilege living in the times that we do as we get to witness and be part of a really important moment in our evolution. The advances in technology have come so fast, drastically reshaping our lives, that you can’t help but wonder, “Where is this all going to lead us? And what’s it for?” It’s safe to say that we are passed the point of creating technology to ease our way of life; living in the modern world we have the easiest and/or most comfortable existences in all of history. This may not be true for everyone in the world right now but the technology for this to be true certainly does exist. As consumers of technology our constant want for the “latest and greatest” only further empower those that invent to keep inventing and pushing technological boundaries. This constant thirst for invention is real for all of us and comes from somewhere within us…in our brain...our biology…our DNA? Millions of years of evolution has brought us (walking, talking monkeys) to this point where the physical hardships of surviving in the world can all be evaded yet we constantly need more, to encourage each other to keep pushing those boundaries.

This video’s stance on technology, as functioning to share our ideas with each other allowing the world to be freer, is what I liked the most. I never thought of appropriation in this vein of sharing, most people just see it as stealing. But if technology is really about connecting the world, about sharing our ideas and connecting our minds to the rest of the globe, then appropriation seems the most appropriate form of Art for today. It makes sense then that appropriation in art doesn’t even come about until the industrial revolution. Since we make art to express our existence in the world to the world and we experience each other more now than in any other time in history then how can our expressions not take from others?