Remix
Where's Remix At?
Picture memes have become widely popular on the internet. They are essentially remixes of the "feelings" behind a picture. There are hundreds of commonly used pictures with thousands of different subtitles that capture the gist of the picture in different ways. For example, below is the Socially Awkward Penguin meme. Thousands of different versions of this meme exist, and each depicts a different socially awkward situation. Memes of this sort have become a popular phenomenom in the current Internet Age.
The Hitler Downfall meme is a meme that utilizes a scene from Downfall, a German film directed by Hirschbiegel. People have given it countless subtitles that match the mood and passion actor Bruno Ganz puts into his Hitler impression. How does Hirschbiegel feel about these remixes? In an interview linked here, he says,
"Someone sends me the links every time there’s a new one…I think I’ve seen about 145 of them! Of course, I have to put the sound down when I watch. Many times the lines are so funny, I laugh out loud, and I’m laughing about the scene that I staged myself! You couldn’t get a better compliment as a director."
Sheperd Fairey, an artist, designed his famous Obama "Hope" poster based off an image that a former Associated Press freelance photographer, Mannie Garcia, took over two years prior to Fairey's creation. The poster was widely spread throughout the 2008 presidential election. This iconic piece of art that is "surely set to grace T-shirts, coffee mugs and the walls of student bedrooms in the years to come" was illegal? Was two years not enough time for "intellectual property" laws to no longer apply? The work is greatly different than the original plain picture. Taking the time period in which it was produced (the heat of the 2008 election), the symbolism, and other factors into account, it seems clear that Fairey did not simply "copy" the original. He transformed it into something better: it was simply creativity flourishing. Was he correctly punished with a $25,000 fine and 300 hours of community service?
The third highest grossing film of all time, The Avengers, is the combination of six classic Marvel superheroes; each of which has their own distinct world and story. The Avengers didn't create the superhero, or even the super heroes it contains, but it did creatively combine them into a film that brought 1.5 billion dollars in the box office. In fact, the highest grossing film of all time, Avatar, is not very original either. Avatar is at its core just another "Sorry about Colonialism" film that Kirby talks about in his Everything is a Remix series.
Above is a very abnormal remix of the most classic video game hero- Mario. It is made completely out of chewed gum and includes a depiction of Mario, a coin box, a star, and 1-up mushroom. The artist who created this in Post Alley, Seattle Washington (more than likely) did not have the rights to these Nintendo elements. Regardless, a unique, memorable, creative remix of those elements was created and shared with the world... through gum art! Also, Nintendo is receiving free advertising. Once again, free advertising is.... well it's something you just can't buy.
So where is remix? Remix is found in art and street art. It is at the core of billion dollar films, and it is the driving force behind comical film adaptations and mashups. Remix is the language of the Internet. It's an integral part of many videos on YouTube and plays a deeply imbedded role in education. It's in politics and beyond. So where is remix? Remix is everywhere.
Below is a take on John Lennon's Imagine placed to images of George Bush speaking and video clips of the War on Terror. Is this modern composition? Yes, but is it legal?