Open Source Culture

Abstract

Artists have always influenced and imitated one another, but in the 20th century various forms of appropriation, from collage to sampling, emerged as an alternative to originary creativity. Instead of making things entirely from scratch, artists began to use found images and sounds in their work. The rise of appropriation, driven initially by technologies of mechanical reproduction, became even more pronounced with the appearance of personal computers, the Internet, and peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Meanwhile, the intellectual property laws that regulate access to appropriated material have become increasingly restrictive. As the tension between artistic practices and intellectual property policies has increased, an unlikely alliance of progressive legal scholars, artists, and technologists has developed alternative models, such as CopyLeft and Creative Commons, for sharing intellectual property. This talk examines artistic practices of appropriation from 1913 to the present as they relate to intellectual property and technology. Specific artistic practices to be discussed include Cubist and Dadaist collage, Pop Art, Found Footage Film, Appropriation Art of the 1980s, DJ music, and Net Art, paying particular attention to their relationship to authorship, originality, and authenticity.