Here's a 17-minute remix I made back in 1994. I was very full of...I dunno...anger? Psychosis? Angst? With the exception of my writing and film/video making at the time, it was a very bad period of my life. I had some money, but not much else... Anyway, this got me into the Chicago Underground Film Festival back then.... (You don't have to watch the whole thing, I won't be mad if you don't. I used music by friends to whom I could explain that I wasn't making any money off of them, and then give them copies for their own use. The images were, of course, swiped from here and there...) [If there is nothing below, please
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I will ignore that Lessig does not seem too much interested in pre-computer REMIX culture. Maybe later he mentions Marshall McLuhan or William S. Burroughs or [INSERT NAME HERE].
Mmmmmmm... Y'know what? I cannot ignore it.
Like, where was REVOLUTION #9?Wow, no mention of one of the first famous audio cut-ups/remixes, “Revolution #9” by The Beatles (actually John Lennon, with help from G.Harrison & Yoko) This sonic nightmare has gotten much better with age, if you ask me...
I find Burroughs’ cut-up methodology to not only be creative and artistic, but even mystical, like reading goat's entrails were to a shaman…Where was that?“When you cut into the present, the future leaks out”—William S. Burroughs
And what about animation like Terry Gilliam’s, which uses “found” images that are repurposed?
It's Mickey! In Vietnam! Childhood icon repurposed for protest! (Someone is using Mickey in ways Uncle Walt would not approve!)
And what about the machine-art performances of groups like Survival Research Labs, where machines, technology and equipment is completely repurposed from its original use?
But Lessig does introduces us to"Bush and Blair Love Song"
From TIME magazine:Stanford professor and Wiredcolumnist rails against the nation's copyright laws — regulations he believes are futile, costly and culturally stifling. Citing "hybrid" economies like YouTube and Wikipedia (both of which rely on user-generated "remixes" of information, images and sound), Lessig argues in favor of what he calls a "Read/Write (RW)" culture — as opposed to "Read/Only (RO)" — that allows consumers to "create art as readily as they consume it."
Okay I get it, Lessig is sticking to the legalities of the now, not so much the historical context. Mentioning JP Sousa was done like one would mention "Blah-Blah Vs. Hoo-Ha, 1969" in a court case...
That said, along with Cathy Davidson’s Now You See It, Lessig’s Remix will be a book I intend to finish off during the winter break.
The book is a fascinating read, part non-fiction history of the right now, while also a legal analysis of an important time in artistry and the efforts to control it by the reactionary forces for whom money is god.
From SFGate:"Copyright law regulates culture in America. Copyright law must be changed. Changed, not abolished." This is not simply the thesis of "Remix"; it is Lessig's mission statement, and runs through his other books, academic writing and blogging. He seeks to ensure that copyright law, the sole purpose of which is encouraging creativity, does not end up stifling it instead.Channeling geeks everywhere, Lessig labels traditional creative work "Read/Only" - as in a CD that you can play but can't modify. The creativity of the future, by contrast, is "Read/Write"; it is interactive and can be remixed to create new works. No law prohibits a writer from quoting another work to make his own point; Lessig thinks we should also be able to do this in the digital world. One of his favorite examples is the band Girl Talk, which samples hundreds of brief clips from others' songs to create a new sound of its own. But in its current iteration, copyright law stamps out this type of R/W culture through prohibitive licensing fees for samples and costly lawsuits for transgressors.
But I will confess that reading it at the warp-speed that I burned through it has 
left me in a bit of a tizzy…
In trying to think of why I liked it, I find myself saying dopey things like, “Yeah, Lessig makes some really good points about the New Normal: ‘If you don’t want your stuff stolen, make it easily available,’ and, ‘Access is the mantra of the YouTube generation.’"
On page 84, Lessig writes, “RO culture speaks of professionalism.”I am of the belief that any endeavor, as long as it is started, maintained and followed through with the utmost professionalism—is worthwhile. Give me the serious and focused amateur any day before a slacking, wastrel “professional.”
Yeah, I cannot wait till the Baby Boomers die out...They are ossifying culture...Why do you think the radio keeps playing The Doors and the same six Led Zep songs? Ugh....
And I say the same about REMIX culture—you’ve got kids (jeez, I could be grandpa to some of these punks!) doing better jobs creating music and films/videos than the overpaid “experts” that Hollywood and the other propaganda machines spew out. (It’s one of the reasons I work at the Spectacle Theater. Keeps me young... BTW, I've curated/programmed two series this month at the Spectacle, one is somewhat germane to today's topic, Italian films that are rip-offs of other films, and then something VERY topical...)
The flipside? Ripoff artists who do not really add anything to what they are stealing--and a philosophy or exquisitely worded reasoning is not enough. I am glaring at someone Richard Lanham praised: Roy Lichtenstein.
Personally, I have come to feel that taking an image and enlarging it is not enough. He has not brought anything to the table except a level of snark and snobbery (because I feel he looks down on the source material he is "recontextualizing"), and that is not enough. Click HERE to read about Russ Heath, who created one of the images Lichtenstein (yes, I'll say it) stole.
Mack Daddy Larry L. doesn't mention collage as art, either. I'm griping but only because I like the parts I've read and I don't want critics to be able to tear down something I essentially agree with....
[Above: Tom Kennaugh, Recollections II (2013)]
On page 87, Lessig writes “Creating is a responsibility. Only by practicing can you learn it.”And I thought, he’s talking about practicing both creativity and responsibility.
All this talk of everyone being turned into a criminal just because you’ve remixed a sound or swiped an image or created something new and wonderful reminded me of something my brilliant college buddy named Ben, who graduated with a degree in cognitive science, once said.
I will paraphrase, this was a while ago, but basically Ben said that he thought that marijuana would never become legal. Not because we have lawmakers and government officials in the pocket of pharmaceutical and liquor companies, or that law enforcement has spent so much time and money on “The War On Drugs” that backing down is not a possibility.
Ben thought that reefer would never be legal because The Powers That Be want citizens to be doing something illegal that is harmless and utterly no threat to the power structure. You see, Joe and Jane Average-American smoke some grass and feel wicked. “Hee-hee, honey, we’re outlaws!” And the bong goes burble-burble.
It’s not the control factor of Joe and Jane Average-American being too stoned to revolt—it’s the feeling that they are criminals. Their egos are stroked by how bad they are (how cool they feel compared to all the other squares at the office). The psychic value of criminality has released some pressure, and they go back to being cubicle droids. And don’t do real crimes…
So all this talk of RO/RW illegal activity reminded me of my Ben and his theories….
mAYBE, just mmmmaaaybe by keeping such activity “illegal” or “verboten” or “frowned upon” The New Powers That Be are channeling activities in a direction that is away from their real concerns. If everyone is busy arguing over baby movie remixes or homemade music videos or student projects (none of which are being made for monetary gain anyway, so what’s the worry?), then maybe something else might not be accomplished and Business As Usual can continue….
Hey look! Someone remixed the opening credits of “Friends!” With an ultraviolent western! Yeeee-Ha!
And finally, here's Big Larry re-examining REMIX...
Thomas Peele 
Ivan Lerner 
Erick Martinez
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