Copyright

Recreation of certain symbols done with ironic intent is often known in the art world as 'appropriation'. As one may guess, this approach often gets artists in trouble with copyright infringement laws. Such is the case in Koons vs Rogers.

In 1988, renowned artist Jeff Koons created the work "String of Puppies", a sculpture that was recreated, essentially, from a postcard by the photographer Art Rogers in 1980. The artist's argument was that the small changes in details -the bizarre blue color added to the puppies, the awkward flowers placed on the the subjects heads- were what made the piece original and thus not in violation of copyright law.

The purpose of this sculpture was to present to the audience the familiar imagery of our culture, as representative of mass culture; thus, his desire to appropriate the postcard was justified. So, though the imagery has not changed much, the concept is very new entirely, as the original photo had no intention to comment on society or culture. But Koons still lost the case.

In 2005, Koons was met with another lawsuit in Blanch v. Koons. He created a collage of women's legs that were appropriated from womens' magazines in the piece Niagra. Under these legs were pastries and other sugary treats on top of a Niagra Falls landscape. One of the photographers of who took the picture of a pair of the woman's legs sued Koons for copyright violation. This time, the court recognized Koons' work as 'fair use', meaning it had purpose and character of use, it used a fair amount of the photograph to be appropriated, and it did not affect the market potential of the original photograph.

The following video is a trailer for the movie RiP: A Remix Manifesto (full movie currently available on Hulu!). The movie examines so called "intellectual property", the legal term that prevents the creation of new imagery, or any other creative outlet, that in any way references old imagery.

 

21st Century Skills

What are artists of the 21st century doing to ensure their work becomes well known? The availability of technology means that even the most traditional artwork must become familiar with its innovations and learn to incorporate it into their skill set so that a much wider audience will become available to them. The framework described by the Partnership for 21st Century Skills can be applied to not only our new generation of students, but also to the artists that are just beginning to see technology infiltrate all facets of their work environment; because when they do, all new kinds of media and creative methods to show their artwork will open up.

Digital art is becoming a respected field of the art industry. Graphic Designers, some of the most profitable of artists, are very experienced with Photoshop, Illustrator, and Flash. Video artists must know editing and audio software, along with knowing how to handle a video camera. All kinds of artists today typically have their own webpages, so many choose to become well rehearsed in Dreamweaver. Above all, the idea you should gain from this is that in successful contemporary art, the artist has become a jack of all trades when it comes to incorporating all kinds of media into their work, especially technology and software.

The essential skills pointed out in the guidelines of the Partnership for the 21st Century skills include: critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and collaboration. Successful modern artists encompass all these. Their work always transcends mere aesthetics and face-value imagery; so one might call them critical thinkers. They comment on contemporary issues and often try to design solutions through creative means, thus they are also problem solvers. Their artwork easily communicates to the audience in a specific, purposeful, and highly meaningful manner. And, finally, they often try to work in other medias, and in doing so, enlist the aid of their fellow artists; so they are collaborators.

We are molding the next generation of artists in a profound way the more we expose them to the importance and manipulation of technology. Today's artists are the students that need to be taught the ideology of programs such as the Partnership for the 21st Century.


The following is are two excerpts from a documentary television show called Art:21 on PBS that highlights innovative art being produced in the advanced, technological societies of the 21st century.

Paul McCarthy - Multimedia Intallation Artist


Cao Fei - Video Installation Artist