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Looper's Delight
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We've fairly well beaten the software piracy issue into the ground, but the recent reissue (in expanded form) of John Oswald's "Plunderphonic" CD invites discussion of the aesthetics, ethics, and legalities of quotation, sampling, deconstruction, and appropriation of musical material as a compositional strategy. Putting it out front - I'm a big fan of John Oswald and others who make new and interesting music by recycling existing recordings. I consider this sort of activity to be in a substantially different category from the sampling of bits and pieces that has caused so much controversy and litigation in the rap and dance music scene. I grant that it's a tough issue. Those familiar with Oswald know about the heat he took on the release of the original Plunderphonic CD, and you are probably also familiar with the Negativland U2 CD and the crushing retaliation that group suffered. It should be clear from past postings that I'm against software theft, and I'm inclined to extend that position to sampling of music for commercial gain. However, when audio quotation crosses the line into the realm of artistic collage and recontextualization I tend to lock up the cash register and think more in cultura, sociological, and aesthetic terms. Any thoughts? -- ______________________________________________________________ Richard Zvonar, PhD (818) 788-2202 http://www.zvonar.com http://RZCybernetics.com http://www.cybmotion.com/aliaszone http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/directory.cgi?autostart=rz