Last Thursday (16th of December, 2010) Felipe Gil gave a presentation on the role of remix in contemporary digital culture. Felipe Gil is one of the members of ZEMOS98 and EMBED.at and his talk was part of Trasnmedia 360º, an event organised by UNIA Prácticas y Culturas Digitales, directed by Alberto Tognazzi, and held at the Museo Picasso Málaga (Spain).

In his presentation Felipe approached multiple issues and concepts which are key to understanding how remix practices operate in the current media landscape and discussed some of their main social, cultural, political, and economic implications. He addressed remix as collective intelligence, as serious games, as a fashion, as marketing rhetoric, as citizen empowerment, and as a strategy for revisiting history or constructing identities.

These are some* of the examples and projects he commented on.

Everything is a Remix

By Kirby Ferguson. http://www.everythingisaremix.info

Colbert VS. Lessig

By Eclectic Method.

Colbert VS. Lessig (Aired: Jan 8th 2009) from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

Mrs Doubtfire (Horror).

The Trailer Mash: Movie trailers, recut.

Robin Williams will go to any length possible to be around children in this horror/thriller recut trailer for Mrs. Doubtfire.

Created by: Rob McLoughlin
Movies used:Mrs Doubtfire

Youtube Harmony

By Freeware/Delaware http://www.delaware.gr.jp/

All Creative Work Is Derivative

by Nina Paley.

“Copyright control extends not just to verbatim copies, but to “derivative works.” This has led to censorship on a grand scale. For example, the seminal German silent film “Nosferatu” was deemed a derivative work of “Dracula” and courts ordered all copies destroyed. Shortly before his death, author J.D. Salinger convinced U.S. courts to censor another author who transformed his characters. And so on.

The whole history of human culture evolves through copying, making tiny transformations (sometimes called “errors”) with each replication. Copying is the engine of cultural progress. It is not “stealing.” It is, in fact, quite beautiful, and leads to a cultural diversity that inspires awe.”

http://questioncopyright.org

Political Remix Videos. Transforming Mass Media and Pop Culture

An initiative by Jonathan McIntosh and Elisa Kreisinger.

“This website showcases and promotes some of the best, most innovative and inspiring examples of Political Remix Video. These remixes use and transform appropriated footage (and audio) from popular culture to create new fair-use video works. For us the word “political” refers to works that are critical of not only of political institutions and government policy, but also social and cultural issues like gender, race, sexuality and environment. This blog is managed and edited by two remix artists and media activists.”

http://www.politicalremixvideo.com

Reconsitution 2008

A live remix of the 2008 Presidential debates by Sosolimited.

“ReConstitution was a live audiovisual remix of the 2008 Presidential debates. There were three performances in three cities, each coinciding with the live broadcast of the debates.

We [www.sosolimited.com] designed software that allowed us to sample and analyze the video, audio, and closed captioned text of the television signal. Through a series of visual and sonic transformations we reconstituted the material, revealed linguistic patterns, exposed content and structures, and fundamentally altered the way in which the debates were watched.

The transformed broadcast was projected onto a movie screen for a seated audience.”

http://www.reconstitution2008.com/

Cillit Bang Remixes

By JAKAZID.

Cilit Bang 300 Techno Remix by CBABEARD.

David after dentist

Remix by Eclectic Method

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* All remixes included in this post have been selected by Daniel Villar Onrubia among a wider collection presented by Felipe Gil in his talk.