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October 21, 2004
Media Watch: Media trips
That's the name of a compelling new blog riding the wave unleashed when creative people started adopting Photoshop (and other digital media tools) and the Web.
Explains the blog's founder, David Goldschmidt:
Sampling popculture is not a crime. It is not an act of civil disobedience. Sampling popculture (or media mashing) is a means for artistic, political and personal expression. And Media trips is a blog that promotes artists and producers who exercise their FAIR USE rights. It is a guide to artists and producers who (sample) (remix) (mash) popculture content to create something new and original. "Popculture content" means any audio, video, image or text produced by the world's major media and entertainment corporations. For my purposes, a "mediatrip" is any original aesthetic or narrative that integrates content ripped from film, TV or other sources.Media literacy (the ability to communicate using text, audio, video and HTML) is the new literacy. And media-mashing is the new criticism. It is time to teach students how to critique the Media's (FOX, CBS, AOL, etc.) broadcast content instead jailing them for violating oppressive copyright laws. Media-mashing is a legitimate form of social criticism.
It's been a long time coming. In 1993 I conceived and developed and helped to launch Blaster, a magazine for "screenagers" (people who had grown up with videogame joysticks and computer mice in their hands) who were embracing interactive multimedia creation and online communications along with skateboards, graffiti art, indie rock, and other alternative lifestyle activities.
Back then, the model was 'zines - fun, creative, hand-made magazines and newsletters. Now it's sites like Fark's Photoshop hacks pages, Media trips, and a growing number of blogs where digital pranksters show their stuff. Very cool.
Thanks to NEWSgrist editor Joy Garnett for the link to Media trips where she is guest blogging.
October 21, 2004 09:54 AM