NEWS UPDATE: Views of Gallery 25 and Project 12

Diran Lyons has announced his latest remix project collaboration with Stephen Mears titled "Project 12". Here is an interview he created to introduce us to this exciting new project that also gives us a nice look at what Gallery 25 looks like at the moment:

NEWS UPDATE: Critical Remix Festival Info & Goodies

CRITICAL REMIX FESTIVAL
PREMIERES ART HOP OPENING RECEPTION | THURS. JAN. 6TH 5-10PM.
Gallery 25 will host screenings on each of the following weekends until January 28, 2011.

Gallery 25 660 Van Ness Avenue Fresno, CA 93721 (559) 264-4092 http://gallery25.org

Byron Russell discussing the Critical Remix Festival:

KFCF Stir It Up! 12/29/10

KFCF Art Attack! 1/6/11

Critical Remix Festival Introduction

Welcome to the Critical Remix Festival: Oil and War, presented by the Appropriation Alliance. I am Byron Russell, its founder and your host for this event.

We are pleased to present twelve finalists from across the United States and Canada, each vying for the $1000 grand prize. All of these short online videos address the theme of Oil and War using some or all recycled video from other sources, such as network news or movies. This type of video is known as remix. Remixers make something new out of something old, in the process discovering new ways to communicate. Through remix, we can explore deadly themes without taking life and do it on a shoestring. Websites like YouTube make an inexpensive, worldwide forum for people to share their work.

Reusing media is an idea as old as cinema itself, but these recent developments in technology have made it conceivable for anyone to access, edit and post video. Becoming producers as well as consumers marks a profound change in how we relate to media. We are witnessing the democratization of media and a new dawn of media literacy is approaching.

But for the moment, many people still believe that videos which reuse media are more piracy than art. The Appropriation Alliance could not disagree more, especially since artists working in other media have fought and won this battle many times in the last hundred years. Remix deserves an audience, for people to speak up for this art and its value in our culture. We believe people will embrace remix when they have a chance to see for themselves how fascinating and creative it can be. That is why remix artists Diran Lyons, Desiree D’Alessandro and I founded the Appropriation Alliance.

This festival was created in that spirit to show off some of the fascinating dimensions and possibilities that exist in remix. War and Oil is a theme that many remixers feel strongly about and have worked with during the development of remix as a form. War is probably the most common theme in news and art, so there is plenty of source material available. However, the ubiquity of War and Oil in our culture presents the remixer an interesting challenge to create something that feels fresh or to embrace the intrinsic familiarity of this subject. This tension between innovation and cliché can be seen in our finalists, which each in their own way grapple with formula and stereotype. While this challenge may be exaggerated by our chosen theme, all remix relies on existing material for content, and thus investigates to some extent that spectrum.

The Appropriation Alliance felt our first event should reflect some of the strengths of our community, but by no means are political statements the only possibility for remix. To the contrary, there are limitless subjects, themes and technical approaches that remix has yet to address. The Appropriation Alliance will be a part of fostering that exploration.

Looking forward, we are excited about assembling a collaborative book project so that more people can learn about the different genres and methods of remix and be inspired to create their own.

Finally, we want to say a very big thank you to our sponsors, Peace Fresno, The Fresno chapter of the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, and the Fresno Center for Nonviolence, whose cooperation allows all of your donations to be tax deductible. We couldn’t do it without you! Please join us in supporting remix by making a donation through our website so that we can continue to cultivate innovative remix.

We have only one prize to offer, but the prize and festival are dedicated to all of the filmmakers who submitted videos for the festival, to all of you out there who make remixes, or will someday. This festival is an expression of our passion for remix and the desire that we all recognize and appreciate the power, creativity and freedom that remix represents. We love this work and hope you will too…

[click on the image above to view larger]

For your convenience, below are direct URLs to view each participant's remix:

Complete Playlist - http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=525CC028929E7381

Robert Dohrmann - Me America
Martin Leduc - Chevron - We Agree
Artur Augustynowicz - War and Oil
Edward Pelkey - We Have the Technology
Erik Nelson - Bad Romance
Josh Gorfine - The Light at the Tip of the Candle
Lili White - Stuff of Our Dreams
Chloe Hamilton - SOS
Elisa Kreisinger - You Can't Vote in Change
Tactical Stencil Lab - Recruiting Young, Poor and Minority Soldiers
LJ Frezza - Nuke'Em Duke
Aaron Valdez - There Will Be Oil

FEATURED REMIX: Groundless by Jennifer Proctor

This remix by Jennifer Proctor illustrates how a critical remix can have something to say about media and raise our level of media literacy, without directly addressing any overt social or political target. The airplane disaster movie is the target here, and Jennifer draws our attention to the tropes and conventions of the genre using footage from several such disaster movies of the Sixties and Seventies. She maintains the rhythm and pacing of the original genre so that we can react in a similar way to their original audiences, seeing the footage in an appropriate context, while combining the most overused shots to intensify and make more conscious their purpose and meaning. In this way, we can come to a better understanding of how Hollywood manipulates our emotions to tell stories.

In Jennifer's own words, "It's really a piece about the formulae Hollywood uses in building suspense and conveying violence, which also draws upon one of the great American/human fears and a former phobia of my own: flying."

Watch to the end as the video finishes in a surprising and unusual way...

FEATURED REMIX: I Yam What I Yam by Bryan Konefsky

Appropriation Alliance is pleased to spotlight Bryan Konefsky and his remix I Yam What I Yam.

"In 1929 monocular vision was not limited to the gaze of telescopes (Edwin Hubble) or movie cameras (Dziga Vertov). 1929 was also the year that the one-eyed, “strong to the finish” sailor named Popeye was first introduced to the United States as a comic strip character. And, even after 75 years and 234 movies, Popeye’s rebel yell for the common good, “I yam what I yam” still resonates with the hope and conviction of his visionary colleagues." - Bryan Konefsky (2005)

Appropriation Alliance finds this work particularly interesting in regards to Remix for its technical approach---the hybridization of theoretical discourse through the audio overlay and coinciding pop culture video montages. This is a style unique to the better known remix categories such as vidding or mashups. The apparent effort to combine the historical rhetoric and remixed visuals compels viewers on a different level of scholarly engagement.

Bryan Konefsky of Basement Films, Albuquerque is also a leading curator of Experiments in Cinema.

"Experiments in Cinema is an annual, Albuquerque-based festival that celebrates recent trends in international, cinematic experimentation and offers a variety of ways in which attendees might think about the history of media representation and participate in shaping future trends in cultural representation. To this end we are deeply invested in year-long outreach efforts where we travel our festival to schools around New Mexico to inspire a new generation of home grown filmmakers to create movies in ways we might never have imagined possible."

They are currently still accepting submissions until Dec. 1st and promote Remix as a viable genre for submissions. Click here for submission details!

NEWS UPDATE: REMIX AGAINST CHEVRON

Chevron Thinks We're Stupid, is a new counteractive campaign launched by the Rainforest Action Network and The Yes Men to counteract Chevron's new "We Agree" campaign.

Encouraging video and graphic Remix, they are seeking submissions from everyone in protest of Chevron's damage to the environment. You can check out the video and print spoofs they have received at their spoof website: http://chevron-weagree.com

For more information, also see:
Chevron's $50 million ad campaign gets flushed

NEWS UPDATE: OPEN CALL -- CRITICAL REMIX

APPROPRIATION ALLIANCE | CRITICAL REMIX FESTIVAL | CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS


[Click on the images above to view larger, or download the full-resolution HERE. ]
APPROPRIATION ALLIANCE is pleased to announce the first Critical Remix Festival call for submissions. The Critical Remix Festival is a juried film festival that will serve as the kick-off event for the 2011 year at Gallery 25 in Fresno, CA. The opening screening will take place on Thursday, January 6, 2011 from 5 PM to 10 PM. The gallery will host screenings on each of the following weekends until January 30, 2011.

ENTRY DETAILS and ELIGIBILITY
The theme for this inaugural festival is "War and Oil." The call for submissions is open to all artists working with the medium of Critical Remix (commonly found on YouTube and also known as Political Remix Video or media stylos). The remix must use found footage: for example, corporate advertising, Hollywood films, TV shows, archive footage of war, etc. The remix you submit must have been created after January 2009, and we especially encourage new work. Our sponsors and the Appropriation Alliance will serve as jurors for the festival, and are interested in seeing each artist's perspective on the themes of War and Oil*. An award of $1000 USD will be given to the remix artist the jury finds to be most deserving.
*To illustrate, here is a link to a Critical Remix Video on the theme of War and Oil created by Diran Lyons:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVuh4AiZ-VY

SUBMISSION FORMAT
Submissions should be viewable on YouTube. The video should be 8 minutes or less. Please send the link to your video (one video per artist), along with your name, contact information, the official title of the work, and a brief statement (100 words) about the video to: appropriationalliance@gmail.com.

The deadline for submissions is: Monday, December 20, 2010 5:00PM PST. There is no entry fee; however we encourage a small donation to help us cover costs. You can donate through paypal at: http://centerfornonviolence.org/wp/contribute/ and note ‘remix festival’ under the special notes section when you confirm your donation, or by sending a check written to ‘FCNV’ with ‘remix festival’ in the memo section to Fresno Center For Nonviolence, 1584 Van Ness, Fresno, CA 93728. All donations are tax-deductible and appreciated.

NOTIFICATION
Artists will be notified of acceptance or decline no later than Tuesday, December 28, 2010. Individuals accepted will have their work shown at the event and posted on our site along with video from the opening. Additionally, remixers will be given permission to remix our festival and present it in a forum of their choice, needing only to notify us and let viewers know your event is a selection from the Appropriation Alliance Critical Remix Festival. Please note that your submission indicates your agreement to allow this to take place and for Appropriation Alliance to use images or excerpts from your remix for promotional purposes.

For more information on this open call for submissions, contact the Appropriation Alliance at appropriationalliance@gmail.com.

http://appropriationalliance.org
http://appropriationalliance.blogspot.com
http://www.youtube.com/AppropriationAllianc

FEATURED REMIX: Wanderland Mafia by Lindsay Scoggins

Appropriation Alliance is pleased to spotlight Lindsay Scoggins as the first Remix Artist to be featured and recognized under the Remix portion of the website.

Lindsay Scoggins is a BFA student from the University of South Florida with rising critical acclaim. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, in collaboration with HP and Intel, launched a recent exhibition titled YouTube Play: A Biennial of Creative Video. Out of 25 announced artist, selected from over 23,000 online video submissions and 91 countries, Lindsay Scoggins placed amongst the top 4 finalists. The announcement was made at a special celebratory event at the Guggenheim Museum, “YouTube Play. Live from the Guggenheim,” with a corresponding global live stream at YouTube.com/play.

Marilyn Minter introduces the finalist Jury Selection in the following event excerpt:


Lindsay Scoggins' work selected, Wonderland Mafia, is featured in its entirety below, along with a corresponding statement from the artist herself:

"Wonderland Mafia is meant to illustrate a disjointed amalgamation of the media one encounters in adulthood versus childhood. Juxtaposition is presented between contrasting elements, referencing the phenomena of rapid textural encrustation in the world of new media. This marriage of appropriate content, both classical and modern, is intended to activate the viewer's associative memory, introducing personal reflection upon their collective media experience."

Lindsay Scoggins' Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/waambat