The Ecstacy of Influence

 What are examples from your own experience of songs, writing, art, etc. that have roots or are derived from          other sources? When you find out about a derivation, do you go and look up the original? Knowing both the          original and the “plagiarized”, what is your relationship to each?

The band Shpongle uses auditory excerpts of Terrance Mckenna lectures and Kanye West used auditory excerpts from King Crimson's 21st century schizoid man. I only notice derivations if I had seen the original first, so I can't remember if it has ever happened to me where someone told me of a derivation that I didn't know about. I usually judge the taste of the person/artist who is "plagiarizing"by what they appropriate. For example, I liked Kanye West a little bit better when I heard that he sampled King Crimson. It was enthrallling to hear Terrance Mckenna's voice in a shpongle song. It doesn't really affect my opinion on the original.

  - In your own words, what is the relationship between creativity and the act of borrowing? Think about the             projects that you are currently working on in this class, what have you borrowed or been inspired by?
It is impossible to create anything without "borrowing". We are consciously and subconsciously affected by every experience we have. Some experiences are more influential than others- but what we create is a reflection of everything we have ever seen, heard, and felt. Creativity is a unified, evolving state of human consciousness- not belonging to an individual. I believe that all creative expression should be open source- it is what influences the world to imagine a brighter future. For my stopmotion, I was inspired by the book "Women Rituals" by Barbara Walker. For my current project, I am inspired by the video aesthetics of Naomi Fisher.

  - On page 3, the author discusses the idea of enframing and recontextualizing. Ponder some of the videos that         you have seen over the last month, locate examples of artists enframing or recontextualizing older ideas or              sources in the work that you have seen.

The video of light reflecting off of a knife is enframing because it is replacing the percieved function of a knife with an aesthetic purpose, which causes us to look closely at the object itself instead of its usefulness. The snippets of news station to sing a talking heads song recontextualizes the media and what it is saying to us.


  - What are the “pros” and “cons” of copyright. Use examples from the reading to support your list.

pros- artists can support themselves financially; the writer of the article made $6000 off their first novel. A large, diverse economy cannot survive without property (according to capitalism).
cons- blocks a free flow of information, stunts the inspiration and growth of society, creates an illusion of possession Jefferson wrote “He who receives an idea from me, receives instruction himself without lessening mine; as he who lights his taper at mine, receives light without darkening me.” Plagirism is a monopoly right, which couters public interest. 

  - What is the difference between a gift and a commodity? Think about and then describe an instance in which         you have personally participated in a gift economy.


A gift creates a feeling-bond between the giver and the receiver, while a commodity avoids feeling. I have made necklaces for my closest friends- This exchange of gifts created a bond between the person and I.


  - What are the commons?

Something that is used by everybody or noone and its purpose is agreed upon by common consent, such as language, the sky, gossip, ect.

 - What is undiscovered public knowledge? The author discusses this methodology of creating  knowledge using     examples from science. Can this method be applied to art practice and how?

This is the reality that society focuses so much on specialized research and less on communication and creating connections between research. This suggests that there are many unknown answers to societal problems that lie within previously discovered facts. This can be applied to art practice in that that are many unknown combinations of materials and practices that we have yet to explore. Like scientists specializing in a particular subject, we specialize in a particular medium (painting, drawing, sculpture, ect.) and innovation lies within the area in between these specialties.