Course Code: CULT 2001
Academic Year: 2025-2026
The re-use of others' work has become central to the creative practice not just of many artists but of everyone who uses a computer. The explosion in remix and mashup is an exciting new creative mode, but it also raises many questions: Who owns creative work? Who benefits from our current legal system of intellectual property rights? Should we accept works built on plagiarism, however artful they may seem, as serious artistic endeavors? Is it necessary to know one's sources fully in their original historical contexts in order to create truly meaningful remix art? This class will place contemporary artistic practices of remix and mashup within their historical context, looking at how variation and adaptation have been practiced (and often condemned) in the Western tradition. We will explore the use of remix-like forms of appropriation by 20th-century avant-garde artists and writers, and we will focus on hip hop musical practice. Finally, students will create their own remix art and will critically engage in analysis of their own creative work as remixers.