Photoshop, Shmotoshop

I am technologically challenged. Simple as that. I struggle getting Microsoft Word to do what I want (anyone else have issues with the tab button?!?) let alone a complex image manipulation software. Needless to say, my attempts at visual sampling took MUCH longer than necessary and caused me to really think about what I wanted to add to/say in my project as it took me eons to actually visually portray my ideas. For my project I wanted to emphasize that copyright prevents creativity, the sharing of ideas, and the sampling of projects. The images I chose represent many areas of the arts (painting, writing, movies, TV shows, cartoons, and music). Some of the images I used represent works in the public domain (Shakespeare, Mozart) and some represent newer copyrighted works (Harry Potter, the Simpsons). Regardless of the free use clause or the fact that they're in the public domain, copyright is preventing reproductions and derivations. Congress keeps extending the boundaries of these copyrights and their length irreparably harming American culture simply because the RIAA and MPAA lobbyists (among many) use their incredible capital to pay off senators and representatives (as represented by the "blank check" in the center of the image).

This perpetual copyright and the lack of funding for free culture (or the creative commons started by Lessig) is also apparent in Kait's first sampling project. To "remix" her sample, I decided to modify it from cartoon form to real life. It is now Lawrence Lessig begging for money (and legislation and overall support) for his creative commons/free culture movement, but he is being ignored by most of the general public (as most homeless people/beggars are). I decided to only use the central image in her work to focus the attention on his plight and the condition of creativity in America (well, that and it took me over an hour to just figure out how to trace out Lessig's head and put it on a different picture).

Overall, I found this sampling project to be one of the most difficult ones for me--mostly due to my technological ineptitude (although the scathing comments from my ghostwritee during the ghostwriting experience place a close second). I also am not a very visual learner or thinker. I tend to like to use language (and rather wordy language at that) to express my feelings or thoughts on certain topics. For those reasons, I found that once again, this experience was more difficult and time-consuming than I originally anticipated. On a positive sidenote, it has given me a new appreciation for any person working with graphic arts or computers on a daily basis--if it were my job, I know computers would be getting smashed on a daily basis from sheer frustration.