Copyright Controversy

I believe Copyright issues hold a proportional relationship with the advance in technology. As one increases, so does the other. In today's society technology make it too easy to copy and use copyrighted materials. It was interesting to research the beginnings of Copyright laws and learn how and why they were originally put into place. They were intended as an incentive for scientific, artistic, or other creative achievements. they allowed the author to retain the sole rights to copy or distribute that work. These laws were not intended to restrict access to there works, they were meant to influence other authors to create more works, increasing the creative effort within society. Of course these first laws were set in place a while before our current modern age. Today we have the amazing device of the Internet which I feel is a big culprit of Copyright infringement. Simply put it is too easy to obtain/copy/sell copyrighted material. I have done it personally mainly because all I have to do is boot up a program and search for any media and i will have a copy of it on my computer in about 8 seconds. I understand how the authors feel ripped off in this situation, but I have no idea how either the author or the government can defeat this Internet problem.

Copyright infringement is a big deal, especially in an art college where plagiarism is a real threat with harsh consequences. In one court case a sculptor created a piece from a postcard picture he found in an airport. He made a good deal of money off of his work. The photographer of the picture found out about this and sued for violation of copyright. This case delved into the rules of Copyright laws. The court tried to draw the line on where a piece can be considered copied or not. Basically you must change the original work in such a way that it cannot be recognized, or use the piece in a satirical or criticizing way. I think they will settle out the guidelines eventually, but as technology moves on it will become a harder problem to address.

Barbara Kruger Interview Response

Many people criticize society silently. They think about the struggles of control and power found throughout the world, yet refuse to act. After reading this interview with Barbara Kruger, I view her as an interesting visual artist that acts as a watchdog. She brings important issues to light. Barbara's work focuses on the kindness and brutality found in social life. People receive images and sounds, but sometimes we forget to consider the meaning behind them. The work done by Barbara forces its viewer to think more about the message of the visual or design. She plays with the many possibilities of meanings. Each viewer will react differently to each image or text. This allows her work to reach out and touch the mind of its audience. One of Barbara's major issues in her work deals with power. This could be anything from personal, political, persuasive, or advertising power. She views power as the most free-flowing element in society which I thought was an important point. Our lives are shaped by many different powers around us. Every social situation is full with different power forces. Our own personal power shapes out morals and beliefs, while persuasive powers give us ideas and opinions. Power determines what our life will feel like. Speaking of life, during the interview Barbara talks about what it means to live a life. Who we are, and the work that we make is a projection of where we were born. Our upbringing along with our color, sex, class, and country is a reflection of ourselves and the work/art we produce. I think this is true. Our early years shape how we will act and how we will think for the rest of our lives. These years are the basic foundations for our personal identity and drastically influence our work. Barbara always wanted her audience to sense life in her work. She wanted them to feel the good and bad emotions found in life. The article then delves into the world of media and its heavy influence. Barbara talks about the good and bad involved in the media. How representations of glamour and expenditure parade on and on in every issue of a magazine. How gossip brings celebrities down to a human level, and how public talk shows push the public into political discourse which may not be necessary, but allows for debate and introduction of new opinions and ideas. One last interesting point of the article focused on new people breaking into the art world. Barbara talks about how the art world was dominated by men, but over time women and people of race around the world joined in. This opened up new stories that had not yet been told. I thought this was cool. New people entering into art brings in completely new perspectives on life. New stories, new cultures, new everything. I think this not only expands the world of art, but also enhances the connection art has with people along with life in general.

EMAC class video response #2

Wow! It has only been two weeks, but I feel like I have been at MICA for an exceptionally long time. This past school week went very smoothly and I am starting to feel more comfortable in this new setting. During the week I had another EMAC class where we looked at another video. This film looked at the worlds of advertising and marketing. It focused on how companies try to sell their product to maximize profits. These companies try to force their ways into the public mind and convince them they need whatever product the company is selling. They turn a boring item into a must-have object. They go through extensive (as well as expensive) research programs and focus groups in order to find the basic, primal feeling of a consumer. It was a interesting science, yet I feel like its based around greed. These companies go through all of this in order to gain the most profit, which is a good goal for a company, yet I feel it cheats the public. Many products out there are not necessities. A person does not need a Hummer to go buy groceries, yet they will buy one anyway. This film made me look at what I spend my money on and why. There are plenty of products that I buy, yet never really need, but this is so normal in our society that I never really notice this personally. I purchase items that make my life easier or more entertaining. Luxury items are expensive, but fun to have. I just hope that some of these companies will cool off, and limit their advertisements. In the video one thing that stuck out was the amount of clutter these companies create. There are ads everywhere, and I get tired of it sometimes. Commercials are boring and repetitive, ad signs litter the roads and cities, will it ever stop or will we slowly fill every nook and cranny with some ad for some product? It would be interesting if the video went more in-depth with Internet advertising, because that form of media is always changing. Overall this was an interesting video that made me look at how i use my money.

EMAC class video response

On this past Wednesday I had my first Electronic Media and Culture Class over in the new Freshmen building. When my orientation group toured the new building, my two Orientation leaders were really impressed with the place and I agree. It is well fitted out and looks like a great work environment. I thought EMAC was very interesting. Most of my art comes from electronic media and I am excited to become more comfortable and efficient with computers and their programs. I personally am a very computer-savvy person and have worked with a good amount of art programs such as Photoshop. I feel like I will have a good time in this class. During the class we watched a video which talked about Hackers. Now at first I thought about current day hackers who try to gain a profit or sabatouge a person or group, but this video focused on early hackers who contain a very different definition. Back when computers were just being introduced, hackers were the 'normal' everyday people who were very interested in these new pieces of technology. They didnt necessarily work for computer companies, but took apart computers in order to build their own. Theses hackers were inventors, and risk-takers. At first eveyone thought they needed permission to go where no-one has gone before, but they quickly broke down that barrier to produce better personal computers which heavily contributed to the computers we use today. Some individuals in the video did take things too far and began using their knowledge of computers to take advantage of others. The government cracked down on these people exceptionally hard and tried to make examples of hackers to scare the public. Instead of using these hackers to improve their system, they locked them away, afraid they could start wars and serious incidents by using a simple telephone. This closed mindedness frustrated many hackers who wanted to imrove the computer/internet/phone system. Overall I think this was an interessting video that shows the true beginning of the computer. It explains how hackers turned a room full of machines into a box with a monitor that can fit on a desk and perform amazing functions. It would be interesting to see a follow up video to see a more modern view of hacking, mainly becuase the video we watched in class was somewhat dated, although still expressed good information.  

First Week of College at the Maryland Institute College of Art.

Whew. This has been one of the longest and busiest weeks of my life, but I have had an amazing time. Move-in day was very smooth and well coordinated. My parents along with myself drove up, moved in, and settled down fairly easily and quickly. I was surprised to get everything done so fast. I think everyone along with myself hyped up the big move-in day a bit too much when in reality it was a fairly easy procedure. I really enjoyed the Emerge Orientation program. It was heavily planned out and structured, but I think that was necessary for the first couple days of college. Orientation was great for meeting new people, seeing new places and becoming familiar with MICA.

Classes started up this week and have been really interesting. I enjoyed meeting my teachers and seeing what amazing things we will be accomplishing over the semester and throughout the year. I am pleased with my classes and teachers, although the homework is already piling up. I understand the work will only get more intensive, but I am ready for that challenge. It feels nice to relax on my off day today and collect my thoughts, plan out shopping runs for supplies and start to structure my schedule. I am really interested in getting deeper into the semester in order to find a good routine that works for me and to become emerged in the college lifestyle at MICA.