After watching all four Everything is a Remix videos created by Kirby Ferguson and his blog, I think one of the most profound things he said that really drove home the reasons for remixes was “Nobody starts out original. We need copying to build a foundation of knowledge and understanding. And after that, things can get interesting.”

Mr. Ferguson articulates the basic elements of creativity as: copy, transform, and combine. And when you think about it learning takes the same cycle. Singers learn their voice capabilities and practice on already recorded songs. Musicians learn their instruments by playing their favorite tunes or songs over and over. Artists likely start by imitating famous paintings or the concepts. Actors learn to act by watch movies and reenacting the scenes. Once an individual has been copying awhile, they start to put their own “twist” on the works, varying them slightly to add their individual flavor or personality into the mix, transforming the subject piece.

Watching, listening, doing…it’s how humans learn new things. Add in our desire for free will, to make our mark, add our own personal flare…and there you have it, we are all remixing all the time. Consciously or subconsciously, over time we have noted things we liked, or didn’t like, things we might have done differently and use these ideas later. Remix is a creative way to learn and grow and experiment with our own individuality…and stretch our imaginations!

I have to wonder, if now, in the 21st century, there is such a thing as “original”? It seems to up for debate nearly constantly. Amateurs and professionals alike are constantly recycling ideas, changing them, morphing them into different, new products of art. But introduce copyright into the conversation and things get really dicey. Should it be a copyright violation to remix? In my opinion: No! Unless of course you are misrepresenting a work as yours. Give credit where credit is due. Making a profit, monetary or otherwise, off someone’s else hard work is wrong, but recycling, reusing, and reinterpreting ideas and concepts is a great way to show how much you like the original (or not).

One of the best remixes I reviewed this week was this one:

The Shining was a damned scary movie the first time I watched it. I’ve seen it many times since and enjoy it. This remix of scenes from the movie completely changes the premise of the plot, leading the viewer of THIS video remix to believe that this is a sentimental story of love, a drama…instead of a horror flick. The scenes weren’t altered. They were just cut and arranged differently to create a different mood. Very creative!

30 Classic Music Albums Recreated With Lego was really fascinating to scroll through. I wish my Lego-maniac kids had so expertly imitated something like this. No, it’s not original design, but very creative interpretations of famous album art. Remember when album cover art was truly an art? I used to love to flip through my parents album collection simply admiring the different types of cover art. I have a few of my favorites framed and hanging in my home now. I don’t think the Lego creations of these art covers are rip offs…more of a different form of art. I bet the original artists or designers couldn’t do it with Legos!

I’m surprised that “Weird Al” Yankovic has not entered into he remixing conversations of ds106. This guy has made a very lucrative career remixing songs and videos! He uses satire and comedy to reinterpret other musicians work and poke fun at the musician themselves in some cases, like in this hilarious video remix of Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way!

And here’s Lady Gaga’s original video of this song, if you’re interested.

In ds106, much of what we do is remixing for the purposes of learning through experimentation and sharing of products and processes. Many find trying to recreate or improve upon any already existing piece of work a convenient and intensely educational. I know I do! I have learned so much through trial and error and feedback during the ds106 process. It was a lot more fun than sitting through a lecture being talked AT about all the concepts we’ve studied here.

I want to conclude by saying that imitation is indeed the highest form of flattery. This is one of the reason my most original works and products for ds106 and this blog are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0. Go ahead…remix my work. I’m cool with that…as long as you give credit to me for what is mine and don’t make money off me (without sharing anyway)!