The Work of Art in the Age of (Ctrl)-C: Digital Remixing and Contemporary
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UMI' THE WORK OF ART IN THE AGE OF [CTRL] - C: DIGITAL REMIXING AND CONTEMPORARY FOUND FOOTAGE PRACTICE ON THE INTERNET ELIJAH HORWATT A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE STUDIES IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS GRADUATE PROGRAM IN FILM YORK UNIVERSITY, TORONTO, ONTARIO JULY 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 OttawaONK1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-53671-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-53671-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par I'lnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. 1*1 Canada The Work of Art in the Age of [CTRL] - C: Digital Remixing and Contemporary Found Footage Practice on the Internet By ELIJAH HORWATT A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies of York University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS ©2009 Permission has been granted to: a) YORK UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES to lend or sell copies of this thesis in paper, microform or electronic formats, and b) LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA to reproduce, lend, distribute, or sell copies of this thesis anywhere in the world in microform, paper or electronic formats and to authorize or procure the reproduction, loan, distribution or sale of copies of this thesis anywhere in the world in microform, paper or electronic formats. The author reserves other publication rights, and neither the thesis nor extensive extracts from it may be printed or otherwise reproduced without the author's written permission. Abstract This thesis explores the phenomena of moving image appropriation by online communities of activists and amateur editors, called digital remixing, and attempts to connect this movement to the experimental found footage film and video art movements. Through an analysis of the political, rhetorical and aesthetic strategies enacted by digital remixers, this thesis maps the trajectory of moving image appropriation from Soviet re-editors just after the Russian revolution, to the avant-garde found footage filmmaking movement in North America, to the appropriation of mainstream films by video artists, and finally to digital remixing itself. Looking even more broadly at appropriation art in the 1980s, this thesis deconstructs some of the semiotic principles involved in the pilfering and transformation of extant cultural materials for use in radical ways by artists and activists alike. Finally, this thesis describes machinima, a new form of appropriation nascent to digital media. IV Acknowledgements First I would like to acknowledge the incredible support of my thesis advisor Michael Zryd, who helped me to shape what was once an impossibly large project, forced me to carefully consider my arguments and encouraged new lines of investigation into found footage and experimental media practices. His dynamic and thoughtful example as a scholar and teacher has had an indelible impact on my writing and teaching praxis. Whenever I find myself facing a dilemma in my writing, research and teaching, I will forever stop and ask myself, "what would Mike do?" Janine Marchessault introduced me to the rich art community in Toronto through my research with her on the Visible City Project. Giving me great personal freedom to explore Toronto's video art scene, Janine initiated a new and rich area of investigation for my research and played a major part in my study of the appropriation art movements of the 1980s. Her incredible vitality and ambition as a scholar, editor and active participant in the Toronto arts community has energized my own practice and redefined my understanding of the role of a Professor. The innumerable conversations I have had with my colleagues in the graduate film department in a large and close class have greatly impacted my development of ideas and arguments. Casual discussions with my peers about projects and problems I was facing in my research became the catalyst for some of the strongest arguments I pursued. I owe a great debt of gratitude to all of the members of my class for their engagement in dialogue and in their support of my project. A whole community of digital remixers helped turn me on to work I was unfamiliar with and offered new ways of thinking about digital remixing. I owe a great debt of gratitude to Martin Leduc, who encouraged a variety of new areas of investigation and was the first person I met personally who was both a student and practitioner of digital remixing. I also benefited greatly by the writings and thoughts of remixer Jonathan Mcintosh, whose efforts helped me understand the great importance of digital remixing as a form of media critique. My comfort and stability in Toronto would be impossible to imagine without the love and support of the Knox family, who accepted me into their homes with great warmth and hospitality and made me feel like one of their own. My stay in Toronto would also be impossible without the incredible support of my own family, David, Jean, Joshua and Yirat who from a great distance, helped me feel connected to my home, family and made me feel like I was still involved in the lives of my niece and nephew. Finally, to Jessica Knox, the person who brought me to my favorite city in the world, who introduced me to a fantastic academic institution, who supported me throughout my time at York and whom I love with all my heart. v Table of Contents Abstract iv Acknowledgements vi List of Figures vii Introduction 1 Chapter One A Taxonomy of Digital Video Remixing: Contemporary Found Footage Practice on the Internet 13 Chapter Two The Antecedents of Digital Remixing: Evolving Tendencies in the Avant-Garde 39 Chapter Three New Media Resistance: Machinima and the Avant-Garde 84 Conclusion 105 Bibliography Ill vi List of Figures Fig. 1.1: Indiana, Robert. Love. 1966 24 Fig. 1.2: Right: General Idea. AIDS. 1989 24 Fig. 2.1: Prince, Richard. Untitled (Living Rooms). 1977 65 Fig. 2.2: Jorn. Asger. The Avant-Garde Doesn't Give Up. 1962 76 vn Introduction The idea for this thesis derived from the simultaneity of my interest in found footage film practices in experimental cinema and what can only be described as an explosion in video remixes on the newly launched web video portal, YouTube in 2005. Though it is clear that both of these tendencies in moving image appropriation share an underlying connection through their recontextualization of cinematic images, I became aware of a variety of more explicit linkages in the aesthetic and political strategies within these works. Though initially, I was drawn to digital remixes because they appeared to be a cheap apparatus for filmmaking and because they allowed artists, many of whom were amateurs, to engage in a critical dialog with popular culture, it became clear that they were also part of a resurgence of moving image appropriation made relevant to a new generation of artists through digital technologies. Found footage filmmaking refers to the practice of appropriating pre-existing film footage in order to denature, detourn or recontextualize images by inscribing new meanings onto materials through creative montage. A central practice of the North American and European avant-garde film movements, found footage films often transform extant images in radical ways, challenging traditional conceptions of authorship, ownership and copyright through examinations of media representation and repression. In the last four years, this practice has been given a new life on the Internet with the proliferation of online digital video files, developments in editing software and the draw of video distribution portals like YouTube. This new form of found footage 1 filmmaking has transformed the technique from an avant-garde/experimental moving- image practice to a powerful egalitarian tool for the critique of mass media. As the practice has become popularized to include amateurs on the Internet, there is evidence of an incipient reciprocal relationship between the found footage films of the avant- garde and those online, which I refer to as digital remixes. I argue that the practice of transforming digital moving images by amateurs on the Internet represents a continuation in the development of found footage filmmaking and possesses its own unique aesthetic and rhetorical contributions.