Free Culture: What the age of the mash-up means for creatives

Sampling, mash-ups, remixes and participatory culture all pre-date the internet, but the digital revolution has helped amplify these practices and given every teenager with a laptop the tools necessary to engage in them. Remixing is quickly becoming the standard way for fans and artists alike to interact with content and become participants in the creative process, which has opened up a wormhole of issues ranging from questions about authorship and intellectual property rights to the disintegration of business models. There’s no two ways about it, the ideals behind the “free culture” movement are changing the process of creation and the distribution of culture.

In this panel discussion, a group of thought leaders and artists in the free culture space will discuss the potential benefits and down sides of free culture, what it means for the general public, for artists and for the future of the art market.

Schedule:

7pm – Doors

7:30pm – Panel discussion begins

8:30-10pm – Mix and mingle with fellow creatives over drinks provided by SAPPORO (http://www.sapporousa.com/lda/?ref=http://www.sapporousa.com/).

8:45-9:45pm - DJ set by Mister Disco (http://www.facebook.com/HappyHousePartyYeah)

Speakers:

RASHAAD NEWSOME is a new Creator and a multimedia artist whose work samples and remixes aspects of high and low culture to create original collage and performance. He is interested in the ways picking apart and recombining culturally specific material, like a hip-hop track, can, in the artist’s words, “elicit emotional and visceral responses that can be universally recognized and felt.” His work has been exhibited at MoMA PS1, The New Museum and The Whitney Museum of Art, among other places. http://www.rashaadnewsome.com/

KIRBY FERGUSON is a writer, director and producer who has created dozens of comedic short films and received more than four million views on the web. His latest film project is a multi-part series examining the history of the remix entitled “Everything is a Remix.” http://www.everythingisaremix.info/

NICK CATCHDUBS is a returning Creator who has been dropping his signature club sets (hip hop, electro, rock and more, with an emphasis on new music and original remixes) around the globe for the past six years. Nick’s expertly composed mixtapes, remixes and re-edits are favorites of blogs and fellow club DJs alike. As co-founder of the beloved Fool’s Gold (http://www.thecreatorsproject.com/creators/fools-gold) record label with A-Trak (named an “indie innovator” by Billboard), Nick has helped launch the careers of artists like Kid Sister and Kid Cudi while curating steady releases of only the best in hand picked new music. http://catchdubs.com/

JANE PARK helps creators, companies, and institutions leverage Creative Commons licenses and CC-licensed content in her role as Education Coordinator at Creative Commons (http://www.creativecommons.org). She is involved with the Peer 2 Peer University (http://p2pu.org) and has designed and facilitated a course on creative nonfiction writing. Before CC, she worked with AmeriCorps and the National Writing Project. She has an interest in pretty much everything, with a penchant for simplifying and spontaneous activity.