What happens to humans when ALIENS TAKE OVER!

http://www.critical-art.net/books/ted/ted5.pdf

There are many facets to the world of plagiarism. We are taught from young ages to never plagiarize and that if we do so, the consequences are immense. Even now if caught plagiarizing we can be asked to resign out studentship. But, this article leaves me thinking, where would our society today be without “readymades, collage, found art or found text, intertexts, combines, detournment, and appropriation?” In art especially where would ideas spurn from if not from others. What should we call inspiration if not plagiarism. We are shifting meaning from one known object to a new idea. Duchamp is the best known artistic plagiarist. Turning a useful everyday bathroom accessory into a meaningful statue. His idea may have been original and unique but the production of his piece is completely taken from another.

This article first and foremost, was very interesting to read. It has shown a new light on the double side to plagiarism. Completely taking some ones idea with no changes should be the number one definition of plagiarism. This being said however, if someone is trying to learn a new concept and does not understand the original, but understands a recreation of the original, then that knowledge is just being shared in a more interactive and adaptable manner. “Plagiarism is useful in aiding the distribution of ideas.” Would we still consider this plagiarism, if it improved something else? How should we look at consumer products? Should technology companies be “kicked out of school” when they all make some version of the same idea (i.e. ipad, tablet, etc.)? “Under such conditions, plagiarism fulfills the requirements of economy of representation, without stifling invention. If invention occurs when a new perception or idea is brought out—by intersecting two or more formally disparate systems—then recombinant methodologies are desirable.”

In the digital realm, appropriation acts under the same rules as any other form of art. It may seem obvious that one video was not made by the artist; such as it is obvious that Duchamp did not make any of his readymades. I think in terms of the digital realm alone we must ask ourselves, does the message change from the original to make it unique, or does it improve the originals meaning? If we consider social media, a repost or re-tweet can’t be considered original or improved ideas, therefore are not appropriations and always are cited by the original author. Art in general, including digital art, falls under the same rule of appropriation.  

Life Feed: Wedcams, Art, and People

From the very begging of the creation of a webcam, interpersonal life has been projected into society and given the okay for "peeping toms" or those interested in something they may not have been able to see before to experience a whole new world.  "In the disrupted transaction, the internet audience, not the therapist, becomes the silent listener, its presence anticipated by the act of recording. And with the recording, Ripps performs the subject of his therapy session: the projection of his selfhood in the internet's open space." We can now reach out into the open spaces of the internet, and find that other people are more interconnected then ever. We can see things we thought we would never see and experience something from someone elses point of view. After reading this article it is very evident that technology and the way in which we express ourselves from that technology is becoming vast. "It is the most expressive and open of mediums, a record of the immediate contact between the artist's body and the surface he's working with." The viewer of this new found art medium is completely ambiguous and unknown, which leaves the artist's intentions as they may see fit. If you are alone with a wedcam, are you truly alone and able to reflect an inner self to the world or would you be bombarded with the thought of unknown others watching? This is the question I suppose can only be answered by the artist.

human canvas #2

human canvas