The blog that Barry said I had to write…

Well well.. It’s been a long time once again. You haven’t missed much.. I don’t think.

I was getting excited and finishing up some fresh work for a show I was going to have at the USF Centre Gallery. You are sensing the past tense.. I can feel it. Yes.. the awesome show Hookers and Autobots isn’t going to happen anymore.. at least not at the Centre Gallery.

If you aren’t aware, my current work deals with appropriation of pop culture through the use of Hollywood cinema. I have in the past altered films in different ways.. blah blah blah.. the new work takes it as step further (at least I think it does) in where the viewer and I share a common ground even further.. A main component of the exhibition is 100 Movies for You and Me. This project consist of audio commentaries I have recorded for popular films. The commentaries are free and will be available for download on the internet and licensed under creative commons for you to do with them what you want. The idea for this project came in part from an article by Roger Ebert called You, Too, Can Be a DVD Movie Critic. Google it if you want. In the exhibition I would have a database of all the movies synced with the commentaries and a viewer would be able to go through them and watch & listen… I would even send the viewer home with audio tracks on specially marked CD-R’s.. exciting stuff.

Also in the same show would have been loops of me interacting with characters from the best in movie culture… “Hey everyone, it’s Teen Wolf” comes to mind… and also a little bit where I ruin the endings of movies for you.. “Darth Vader IS Luke’s Father!”. I’m generalizing here, I don’t really want to give anything away.. I want the show to be fresh for wherever it happens… but let’s just say it’s awesome.

Well, the reason the show won’t be happening at the Centre Gallery is become of copyright infringement. I won’t deny that this could be considered infringement..

Copyright infringement (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is covered by copyright law, in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner’s exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works. (from Wikipedia.. America’s #1 source for news)

Sure.. it is.. great. Now what? I mean, I guess I should have thought about dealing with a gallery owned by a University that I would hit some snags.. I’m not upset at the staff at all.. whatever.. they do what they have to do. I do think that there legal team consisting of http://www.swank.com/ kind of a shitty call.. since they are in the business of making money by distribution films, but whatever. Moving on.

It brings me to where the world is now.. in regards to how I look at it. Music is free.. you know it, I know it.. artist are realizing it, music companies are blowing their load trying to figure out why.. but it’s coming a long. Movies are getting that way as well.. but a shitty Transformers movie cost $100 million to make as where a new album from Kanye West cost what $100,000? Still a ways to go.. but there are some resourceful people out there.. you can buy any movie you want the day it comes out for $5 if you know what laundromat to go to. I watched the new Wolverine flick (even missing a few parts that made it better to me… as it was a horrible movie) before it came out at the theater.

Ugh.. I’m getting bitter over the wrong things.

If anyone wants to go toe-to-toe with fair use guidelines I’m game.. I’ve done that dance.. point is.. I don’t feel like chasing shit around to get things done.. that’s why it was just easier for me to cancel the show. I almost filled the gallery with posters (even free ones for you the audience) of the FBI’s warning.. but.. once again.. who cares.

That’s enough for now.. if you read this, and have any thoughts.. please let me know.. I’m eager to hear what you have to say or would have done..