Monday, April 4, 2011

Blog #10

JibJab's Time for Some Campaignin' is one of my favorite remixes. It samples Bob Dylan's The Times They Are A-Changin' which was originally released January 13, 1964.

Lessig says that "there are two goods that remix creates, at least for us, or for our kids, at least now. One is the good of the community. The other is education" (78-79).  This remix illustrates Lessig's claim that remix can have a significance in education. I think that this video, while humorous, also generates an interest in politics. Although it is a satire, I still think it is worth mentioning because it gives viewers a glimpse of the politics of today. Lessig talks more about "interest-based learning" but I think it is important to note that remixes that others create can also serve as educational tools.

This remix illustrates Lessig's point that "remix is an essential act of RW creativity" (56). He says that "it is the expression of freedom to take "songs of the day or the old songs" and create with them" (Lessig 56). This remix is a perfect example of taking an old song and creating with it.

Lessig talks a lot about collage in this section and I think this remix illustrates his point about the abundance of digital objects available for use. Lessig says that with digital artifacts the opportunity for wide-scale collage is very different (70) and you can do a lot more today than you could 10 years ago. Images and sounds are being taken from culture and being used to create (71). The makers of this video, or artists rather, have taken images and sounds from our current culture and remixed them in a unique way to create a video that is not only funny and entertaining, but also slightly educational.

1 comment:

  1. This is a really good point: "I think that this video, while humorous, also generates an interest in politics." I like the quote you use here about the good of community and the good of education. Sometimes I find myself wondering, though, if there might be other categories. In your case though, for this example, I think it's a great case of education through remix.

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