Analysis Of Lawrence Lessig s Remix Making Art And...

The reworking and regeneration of already existing cultural works through the processes of borrowing, stealing, recycling, appropriating and collaging has become a dominant creative strategy in contemporary art and design, particularly fortified by Postmodernity. Martino Gamper, sister duo Soda_Jerk and Glenn Brown are significant artists in this ‘remix culture’ that redefine the way the world is perceived through the reproduction and recyclability of their works and the works of others. Remix culture, or ‘read-write culture’ , lets people generate â€Å"art as readily as they consume it† . In Lawrence Lessig’s book Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, he argues that the contemporary generation’s form of ‘literacy’ is technologically-based . In this contemporary society, technology plays a significant role in the appropriation and ‘hacking’ of art, music and film making it difficult to distinguish what is piracy and what is creative. Italian furniture designer, Martino Gamper, takes the creative approach by recycling and appropriating in his 2006 work 100 Chairs in 100 Days. By reconfiguring and remixing the design of 100 abandoned, second-hand chairs, Gamper explores the collaboration between styles and structural elements giving new life and meaning to one chair a day. His collection results in a collage of unique design pieces that respond to their place of origination, often poeti c and humourous in nature. Gamper’s Sonet Butterfly (fig. 1) was