Weekly Inspiration (Sept.24-Sept.30)

Weekly Inspiration (Sept. 17- Sept.23)

My inspiration this week is the work by Sebastian Onufszak. He takes old photos and combines them with other images in photoshop to create beautiful finished products.

Movie Response

            I really enjoyed watching “RIP: A Remix Manifesto.” It brought to my attention the problems associated with copyrights and the truth that they are inhibiting creativity in America.

Before watching this, I never really had a problem with copyright laws, but after seeing what other countries, such as Brazil are doing, I think America has much to improve when it comes to these laws. All of our large corporations such as Disney have become greedy and are ruining the creative ability of others. Since the beginning of time, we have been building upon other’s ideas to produce new and exciting works, but all of the sudden it is seen in a negative way.
            The film is organized around Gaylor's manifesto, talking about how the past and future are connected. I agree with his ideas and evidence shown in the film make obvious that the past has too much control on our future as creators. Initially, copyrights were only supposed to last fourteen years, but when all of the large corporations started complaining about this, it was extended way beyond the creator's death. This has been a main source of the problem with copyrights. They have gone away from their original purpose and have become too controlling. I think the best thing to do would be to go back to the original fourteen year copyright. There still needs to be a price for art in order for artists to have incentive to keep creating. Also, I believe there should be some exceptions made for remixes and the use of short clips or sections of materials. I do think there needs to be a limit, but it shouldn't be illegal. 

            It was amazing to see the impact of copyright laws not only in music, but in film, science, medicine and other fields as well. It would be to everyone’s benefit if we’d allow the collaboration of ideas to create better solutions to global problems, like cancer for example. I loved the way this film brought attention to the problems of copyright while remaining entertaining. If someone heard they’d have to watch a documentary about copyrights, they probably wouldn’t be too excited about it, but this film kept me engaged in its entirety.  I’d highly recommend this film to anyone with an interest in remixes or appropriation of any sort.

Weekly Inspiration (Sept.10-Sept.16)

I found Erik Johansson's work very creative and the way he can seamlessly create optical illusions with his photographs is amazing.

Appropriation

Weekly Inspiration (Sept.3-Sept.9)

My inspiration this week is this group of photos taken in Greenland by Ewoud Bon. I love how he was able to show the beauty in the everyday life of the locals. It shows both similarities and differences between cultures.