copy right

so i can honestly say that i believe the principles behind the notion of anti copyright...it makes total sense to me that privatizing language and images could conceivably hinder new ideas and creativity and that it could manufacture places of privilege around those things. language already is problematic and privilege based in the first place. things that are not white, straight, male are outside the normative base of language and are often outside of description. that which is outside of language is often shameful and difficult. why add to the problems that already exist by putting limits on who owns certain language?

i like the recognition that as artists we are all participating in recontextualizing and recombining ideas to create something new. it seems that thinking this through is easier in a more abstract way. i think most of us as artists are more interested in having our work seen and our message or skill to be out in the world, but the necessity of paying bills and in wanting to stake a claim on intellectual property may keep us participating in the market of it all.

i think it's a difficult call. there's a lot to be said for not being worried about reproductions. but i also think that becomes about how you see your work functioning in the world. if you want to be an institutional artist and work with curators and galleries, you can't. There are tons of issues over editioning work and not make lots of copies and knowing where all the editions are that play into the "market" value of person's work.

i mostly don't' worry about it for myself. i want my message out, but i also want control over what part of my work is constructed in that way. i hesitated about posting my video to youtube. i think that youtube is entertainment for the most part and that people don't take what's on there seriously. and i didn't want a video that i intend to remake into something better floating around for people to just grab.

but maybe that doesn't' really matter if it's about audience. i want people to understand what i'm talking about. i don't' want to be limited to a gallery setting or a queer space to be able to get my thoughts across. so maybe a more public venue like the web makes sense (though we should all acknowledge that there is a certain amount of privilege of access surrounding the internet).

this was a good article to look at because i think as long as we are a part of a capitalist system and the art object can be bought and sold like a commodity, this will be an issue.