What I find particularly interesting about the current debate on Intellectual Property is the fact that IP even exists.
If everyone gives their work away for the betterment of humanity, many people benefit. I have watched Open Clip Art Library (OCAL) grow for quite some time and it has a vibrant community based solely on sharing. Every piece of content is Public Domain. In the last week it’s received a massive influx of new users.
STOP SOPA / PIPA David B Lyons / davidblyons SOPA and PIPA are real threats to the free and open Internet. Although recent media reports have suggested that the bills are losing support, they are not dead. On January 17th, SOPA's sponsor said the bill will be discussed and pushed forward in early February. PIPA could be debated in the U.S. Senate as soon as next week. There is a need to send a strong message that bills like SOPA and PIPA must not move forward: they will cause too much damage. Download, remix, and share the image from Open Clip Art Library http://openclipart.org/detail/167202/stop-sopa-by-davidblyons-167202
When the US government has a De Facto standard of copyright for all creative works in tangible form, there is an inherent hurdle to sharing.
Imagine a world where where that hurdle didn’t exist.
Learn more about SOPA, PIPA, and the Wikipedia Blackout.
I found a piece of paper that I had forgotten about that was written last Friday. On it was the immediate morning scrawlings of a semi-conscious me. Here’s the dream drama:
A tall Asian curator female in a silk dress, very kind asked me to redo an older painting, so I cut it up and added digital sound and video (likely with a Milkymist) then my Dad and I work on it for a few days. During the installation (it was crated the day before) with all the chaos of the opening it was very hard to find the crate. Just in the nick of time the project was found and installed. In addition there was a device/sculpture component where the original 2d image was a city scape and transformed into a rolling chain of images joined with flexible joints, like a dragon kite.
One of the components was a window frame with the initials NJ in the frame…likely meanig New York was the skyline. Very exciting way to wake up. Everything got finished and the installation was complete right as I woke up.
The dream could have been influfluenced by the chain in Doris Humphrey’s water study, or the fact that I had gone to the studio with my father who was working with folks in wheel-chairs being propelled with whipping momentum across the stage the day before…plus I was anticipating building a crate before I left for California the 10th.
MacGyvero (adj.) MacGyverismo (noun) is a portmanteau coined by Pete Ippel and Peter Roberge that aids English speakers in the United States to understand the Chicano concept of Rasquache, that is both functional in American-English and sounds like Spanish.
The intent of MacGyverismo is to create positive associations among Mexican-Americans (Chicanos), original problem solving, new methods, and creative thinking.
Ask an American-English native speaker to think of someone who did the most with the least in tough situations: MacGuyver, the pop culture reference of resourcefulness, comes up consistently…often with a half-smile of nostalgia.
The starting of a car with a cactus, a nickel, and a string may be a bit of hyperbole, and MacGyver has his fair share of parody…yet the general connotation is positive.
Why is that? Because the main actor is white? Because MacGyver isn’t poor or in a marginalized culture?
There is contradiction because when performed by a non-white American, innovative repairs are castigated by pejorative words such as ghetto, hack, and jury-rigged which often have a negative connotation.
MacGyverismo is functional in explaining a complex notion to someone who only has the capacity to describe objects with the aforementioned terms. MacGyverismo imbues an odd sense of respect to an oft-dismissed practice of solving problems with available materials…a key trait of artists in any culture.
SHARISM is a Mind Revolution: The more you share, the more you receive. It is a ideology which promotes the sharing culture and economy as a way of thinking.
“Being patient, forgiving, and methodical set me free.”
How I did it: I visualized what I wanted my ideal space to be like. I started sharing my goal with others. I gave away or sold things that I found distracting.
Lessons & tips: Take the risk to give / sell the things that take your attention away from what your goals are.
Resources: Charitable causes will take any belongings you may not want or need. It’s satisfying to think that someone else may get use out of what one doesn’t need.
I was sitting on the #3 bus on the way to the Starlight Room sitting in the middle of the back row of seats, when we made the stop by Japan Town, and a French tour group was chatting and then they got near the back door of the bus, took one look at me, and sat in the Handicap seats up front.
Those that support conceptual art (performance art, video art, social sculpture, happenings etc.) art are mocked by those that do not understand it…and the myth of disbelief, shock, and awe is perpetuated by popular media.
Shovel by bsabarnowl http://www.flickr.com/photos/bsabarnowl/
The concepts surrounding this type of art are not new…specifically Praxis’ work MONA: Museum of Non-Visible Art is based on its predecessors. They generated support for their museum in a contemporary way through Kickstarter with the video below:
Even the name Praxis is a lifted reference.
The history of conceptual art that James Franco tries to explain (the fellow on the Jimmy Kimmel Show) has strong roots in the Bay Area, as does video art. That’s why I chose to study for my MFA in New Genres at the San Francisco Art Institute. The Bay Area boasts artists: Tony Labat, Linda Montano, Doug Hall (AntFarm), Sharon Grace, Paul Kos, David Ireland, Karen Finley, and many, many more.
The Museum of Conceptual Art was created by one of my mentors, Tom Marioni. Tom is a big fan of Marcel Duchamp and the Readymade. Hypermodern.net represents 12 years of conceptual art education and I’m constantly asked, what for?
Simply, as Cathy Malchiodi writes, the massively important restoring power of imagination.
The phrases “art heals” and “art saves” have become ubiquitous and will continue to circulate; like many catch-phrases, they are just too cool to go away. Like any popular slogans, they blur real meaning; in this case the actual purpose of art is often forgotten.
Cathy summarizes further synthesizes and interprets Ellen Dissanayake’s book What is Art For?
1) Makes life special.
2) Engages the senses.
3) Involves rituals.
4) Enhances community.
When was the last time you went to an art show and got an experience, a prize, a few bucks, and a great story and thought differently about the present moment you just experienced. Free Memory. Free Money. Free Ideas…and a 2 minute smile free from economic stress. Or was it referencing the financial collapse, throwing money in a hole, and making peons work for it doing crazy tasks that don’t mean anything by diverting their own lust for financial gain? Why did they follow the rules of the over arching system? The title of the piece of mine is “Free Money, Sticky Fingers” made at SomArts. Check out their open call for more art in the hole.
Sound like art?
Yes.
Sound like MTV’s Jackass?
Yes.
Sound like conceptual art?
Yes.
Is everything art?
No.
Is everyone an artist?
No.
That’s why I can auction a crispy 100 bill and get $115.00 for it and be present in hundreds of people’s minds.
When critiquing or defending artwork remember three core concepts: intent (what did the artist want to express), context (where, when, and who are they showing it to), and liability (will it put the artist or anyone else in danger, will it cost money from the artist or public, does it exclude anyone, does the artist take responsibility for the piece).
