Copyright

The question I am going to address is:

What are the challenges faced by artists in the digital age when it comes to the ownership and sustainability of art?

There are many challenges faced by artists in the digital age when it comes to the ownership and sustainability of their art. Let's use music as a focus to answer this question. First, let's look at the 3 stages of copydom: perfection, freeness, and liquidity. Perfection is seen in both the analog and digital age. This perfection did not create too many challenges for artists as the perfection was solely used to design the modern world and make music modern. Freeness is when the challenges started coming in. Freeness made napster possible which made a music revolution possible; consumer were able to download music in mind-boggling numbers, but the real question is: what did they do with this music once they downloaded it? We can fool ourselves by thinking that all they did was listen to the music, however, the third stage of copydom came in to play: liquidity. Once music becomes digitized (freeness, napster), it becomes liquid. Once music becomes liquid, it can be morphed, migrated, flexed and linked, and from here you can filter it, archive it, rearrange it, and remix it. Thus, if consumer can manipulate music in all these ways, especially rearrange and remix it, then they can inevitably make it their own. This new creation from prior work is what we today call a Mash-Up. Many artists hate mash-ups because they feel that consumers can claim copyright over creations that have been influenced from prior works, but with digitization, music went from being a noun to a verb.

Music is becoming a commodity that is traded, co-created, and co-produced by a networked audience. This poses challenges for musicians because they are no longer in control, thus, copyright issues arise. Most of the music that consumer are manipulating come from online sources where there is a lack of enforcement of intellectual property laws. When someone is online at home sitting behind a computer, downloading various musical tracks, who is there to arrest them? What if the copyright laws where the artist resides or has created the music does not apply to the consumer downloading and manipulating because they reside in a different country? These are just a few of the many challanges faced by artists when it comes to their work.

signed,

g.i.a.c.w.

Changes in Art History propelled by Changes in Technology

The question I am going to address today is:

We've seen how changes in art history have been propelled by changes in technology (painting, photography, and film). How might contemporary technological shifts create changes in perspective? Consider one specific example in your response (cell phone? iPod? digital video???)

I will consider the evolution of the cell phone. I believe that the technological shifts in the design of a cell phone has created changes in perspective. The cell phone has created changes to what is and isn't considerent art. When cell phones first came out, all you could do was dial a phone number. Now that cell phones have evolved, you can dial a phone number, sms text, instant message, take pictures and record videos. Thus, for example, whether I am at home or I visit another country, I don't even need a camera. As long as I have my cell phone I am set! Not only can cell phones dial, sms text, instant message, take pictures, and record videos, most cell phones also have the option to use the internet! Thus, these pictures and videos can be uploaded on facebook and other websites, and can also be sent to a friend via text. What does this equal? Globalization. The question now is, should these globalized videos and pictures be viewed as art? In my opinion, I believe that anything can be seen as art.

Thus, in my eyes, someone taking a picture with a loved one or even a picture of a still tree is artistic. A million dollar art painting could be an image of a thin black straight line with a white background; art is the meaning behind what is actually before your eyes. It must be remembered that art is rarely ever expicit. Cell phone photos and videos are sometimes candid moments, and these candid moments create memories. Once these memories are uploaded for others to see, it becomes artistic because the viewer begins to imagine what exactly was said right before the picture, what exactly is going on in the picture, why the picture was taken, who took the picture, what the picture is symbolizing etc. These are all the same questions we might ask ourselves when we visit a digital art gallery are they not?

We live around art, we make art; We are art.

signed,

g.i.a.c.w.