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| A still image taken from Decasia |
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| One of the many photos Levine steals from Evans |
One of the type of plagiarism is called the Remix (3:12). I think it is the most similar to the Levine case.
My Cooliris Wall
Friday, October 15, 2010
Snip snip snap snap.. Here is my master picece!
"Everything worth discovering, has been discovered" is a quotation taken from a movie Around the world in 80 days. Reading through William S. Burroughs' article on The Cut-Up method of Brion Gysin reminded me of the above quote. He strongly believed that we are not bringing anything new to this world as an artist. We only "cut-up" the existing materiel(i.e. articles, art and etc.), put it together and publish it as our own. While that might be somewhat true, it disturbs me how much he over generalized it. What about Mathematicians and Scientists? They are artists in a way. They do research using other people's work, but they build new things on top of it. As a result, we enjoy our advancements in knowledge and technology.
Sure, cut-up can generate a different point of view of the existing materials, but it can not be an excuse for the lack originality. Sometime cut-up can transform the meaning of the existing material into something new. Sound interesting? For what I have seen, this "transformation" does not quite meet my expectation. I am referring to Decasia, a film produced by Bill Morrison. I can only describe my feeling towards the film as painful, both physically and mentally. In my highly opinion, (and that is to say, I am not suggesting that everyone feels the same) I think watching the film is equivalent to listening to this squeaking noise made by scratching a chalkboard with a fingernail. Imagine the sound repeatedly played over and over again for the duration of 67 minutes. Having fun yet? If you are not convinced that cut-up might not be the best method around, take a look at the following.
Let us change our angle to something we are familiar with, plagiarism. When a student take an excerpt from the internet and say that it is his own, the student gets punished for it. But why do I see the "artist" like Sherrie Levine who re-photograph Walker Evans' photos, gets recognized? Isn't it the same concept as plagiarism? To me, it is. Burroughs would probably argue otherwise. I think it is only fair when other people's materials are used as a reference, or when a small part of their materials is incorporate into a big picture.
One of the type of plagiarism is called the Remix (3:12). I think it is the most similar to the Levine case.
One of the type of plagiarism is called the Remix (3:12). I think it is the most similar to the Levine case.
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I'm really glad that you were unabashed in your assessment of Decasia. It was definitely an experience I don't think any of us will soon forget. Unless some students are already repressing it, in which case I'm wrong. As far as your take on plagiarism, I think because of technology today, it's kind of a gray area. With the idea of "fair use" it becomes harder and harder to maintain ownership of digital information. However, I understand your stance and honestly wish it were slightly harder for people to pirate information and art as easily as they can in this day and age.
ReplyDeleteWell, plagiarism is no longer "plagiarism" as soon as we reference it correctly and acknowledge the original source and reaffirm the honor code. Then, we don't get in trouble. I wonder how much Sherrie Levine acknowledged Walker Evance when she rephotographed his prints. Is it okay when artists take found materials to make "art" if the message the artist is trying to put across is fundamentally different from the original? And as long as the artist acknowledge the original artist, or if the original artist is so famous that it is a given without acknowledgement? It sure is a gray area.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with your point that mathematicians and scientists are akin to artists, I don't think that Burroughs believed that nothing all could be original, just that spontaneity helps the creative process along.
ReplyDeleteAlso, while Decasia may not be for everyone, is it not possible that the way in which Morrison edits the footage creates a new and interesting message? Can't there be beauty in supposed chaos?
I completely understand where you are coming from when you talk about Sherrie Levine's Walker Evans project. While her point is interesting, I am not entirely convinced that it alone can transform her reproductions into art. I agree that her project infringes on copyright issues and think that Levine might have been sued for her project had she not been an artist.
I agree, viewing Decasia was something of an unpleasant experience, though looking back on it now, it did bring up some interesting concepts. The use of the found footage is really what made the film what it was, more so than Sherrie Levine's work, because it was the recombining of the fragments which made the "story." I'm unsure of what the copyright issues would be with this, since the film was decaying and no one else was going to use it, but I agree that Levine was walking a very fine line with her rephotographing of another person's work. Copyright seems rather hard to understand these days, which is unfortunate, because it is all the more important to know about with the increased availability of media we have these days.
ReplyDeleteByte, I like how you approach the "cut-up" method through both a negative and positive perspective. For instance, while this method allows artists to utilize existing materials and build new ideas of their own, it also gives rise to controversies, such as plagiarism and copyright issues. Hence, how are we to decide whether the cut-up method is a positive advancement or a negative flaw, for which Brion Gysin should be blamed!
ReplyDeleteI guess it is acceptable to utilize the cut-up method and republish another artist's work, as long as it is under the "fair use." However, it is certainly not acceptable to completely steal or plagiarize someone's work, without giving him/her credits.
The entire issue of plagiarism reminds me of high school, where our AP English papers had to be checked through this website (forgot the name), which detected plagiarism! If the work had been plagiarized, the website would instantly give a link to the place where the content was taken from. I think we need something like this website (on a larger scale) so that plagiarism and stealing of other people's work would cease, or at least decrease.
Please note that Levine titled her work "After Walker Evans" and "rephotographed" images in the public domain!
ReplyDeleteByte, I am happy to see that you have emphatically posted the exact opposite opinion of Decasia that I hold. It just goes to show that beauty (or anything) is totally in the eye of the beholder. Meaning does not inherently lie in anything. It's all about interpretation. Sorry for your lost hour of life!
ReplyDelete