Thanks to First Weekend Club, I was able to go with Rich & Claudia to go see Rip! A Remix Manifesto at the gorgeous District 319 on Main Street. I was blown away at the venue which is an adult’s dream movie theatre: nice comfy chairs and they even let you bring wine in. Civilized!
I loved how Brett Gaylor, the director, has worked to make the documentary as much a part of remix culture as it is about it. Through his site, opensourcecinema.org he’s posted all his raw footage and made it available for the public to remix the content. Furthermore, this manifesto does a stellar job of laying bare how copyright laws in the 20th century have gone against the historical tide through corporate manipulation that seeks to limit what people can do with cultural objects. Gaynor primarily uses mash upster Girl Talk as an example of how remix culture is already upon us, how it’s really, really fun and how corporations are trying to control the future of culture by limiting access to the past.
I hesitate to simply call Rip! a documentary because it functions more like a textbook about copyright and remix culture that has emerged thanks to personal computers and the internet. But I find the word “textbook” to be inappropriate because it feels too tied to a specific medium. Maybe documentary is supposed to cover this, but I feel it’s too limited a term also. The section on Brazil was astounding to me and indicative how an audio/visual lingua franca is starting to emerge around the world. I personally, love that more people are now participating in culture and creating media that is responsive. Blog, cough, cough.
So, if you’re in Vancouver go check it out at The Ridge
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