Rip - A Remix Manifesto

I have always loved the Creative Commons Copy-write. Since the moment I began playing with remix music and sound I found it a relief to work with music that was easier to license without a heavy concern of having some corporate giant of a record label come after me. Organizations that embraced a new era of creative exchange like Magnatune became my staple for source material. With them I found great relief in realizing that more of the money that I spent to license that music went straight into the hands of the artists instead of being lost in the black hole of middle men.

Recently, I went to go see the documentary "Rip- A Remix Manifesto". It is magnificently done and worth downloading. It gives a good overview of the issues that have been plaguing many creators since the Copy-write laws began being mutated to benefit major corporate giants instead of the artists and scientists that they originally were created to protect.

BackStory

My work is often a collage of what sometimes may seem like chaos to some at least during the process of creating it. I will admit that I often will take off on multiple tangents. Research random thoughts and ideas. Be influenced by dreams or the comments I overhear made by random strangers on the street. In some ways I am a sponge for chaos. However, that build up of chaos often becomes what eventually becomes a form of architecture for the work, a background of a piece or the backstory of a character.

Backstory, in writing or acting you always consider the backstory. The history of the character that makes him or her react in a certain way to their present circumstances. The things about the character that the audience may not know but which ultimately make the difference in why that character is who he or she is.

Backstory, for the future, what are we leaving for them. Those who come after? Our influence, our pain, our love, our passion, our knowledge. What backstory do I create today, for myself, for others, for every being I encounter and all those who cross my path.

Did I live as I should live? Did I consider anyone other then my own self and my immediate wants? Did I mend the problems that others left behind so that the future could be free of that which I was forced to deal with? Did I consider the backstory, not only of where I come from but what I leave behind?

The piece I work on now is about that. The backstory.