I was really drawn into this documentary and found it quite interesting how copyright laws have become such a strong restriction in creativity. Humans take inspiration from everywhere! We find something and make it better or put our own twist on it, which is what makes us creative. Having our own ideas and transforming something from the past showcases our creativity. It feels like many of these big corporations are very money hungry. If they think you’ve taken something from them, even if it’s the tiniest detail, you can face a lawsuit immediately. While I believe you should always credit the original creator, copying their work and putting your own spin on it is still creative. You’re seeing something different from what the original creator saw, which illustrates the versatility of art. The director of this documentary, Brett Gaylor, made some points that I thought were spot on. Not only do we take inspiration from the past in music, but we also do this with technology and other inventions–like computers, cars, water bottles, lamps, etc. Everything has been created based on the past, which is one of the documentary’s main points. Bringing the focus back to music, when someone samples something from the past, they can manipulate it into something completely different. The gears are always running in an artists’ head, whether it’s something new or something they saw while walking down the street. That being said, art can be anything, and as mentioned earlier, it can come from anywhere.

*One Piece*

In Chapter 1 of The Language of New Media Arts by Lev Manovich, principle 4 really stood out to me. In this principle, he discusses the constant change in new media arts and different forms of it. In the beginning of this section, Manovich explains how new media does not stay in one place, “A new media object is not something fixed once and for all, but something that can exist in different, potentially infinite versions” (Manovich, 36).  Technology is always developing to be more high quality and convenient, and as a result, we’re able to have computers do more of the work than humans, “Old media involved a human creator who manually assembled textual, visual and/or audio elements into a particular composition or sequence” (Manovich, 36). He later says, “And rather than being created completely by a human author, these versions are often in part automatically assembled by a computer” (Manovich, 36). This principle stems from Manovich’s first two principles, which are numerical coding of media and the modular structure of a new media object. However, automation goes hand in hand with variability due to the fact that computers are taking control rather than humans. For example, in automation, Manovich discusses computers generating different forms of new media such as Web pages for a website. The same applies for variability since it is creating different versions instead of identical copies (Manovich, 36). Automation creates new versions, and variability allows the user to have different variants of those versions. Additionally, modularity helps variability as well since it allows to store data digitally “than in a fixed medium” (Manovich, 36). I find this interesting because it amazes me to see how much technology is forever advancing. I love understanding how things develop into what they are now because it shows growth. The change in new media arts allows users to have more flexibility and it is the computer who does all the thinking now.

1. A cat (to stay sane)
2. A dog (to also stay sane)
3. Buldak Carbonara Noodles
4. Stuffed Animals
5. Motivation
6. Nature (except bugs)
7. Kindle (I like reading)
8. Adobe Creative Cloud (My Holy Grail)
9. Sleep
10. Support system
11. Noise cancelling headphones (to be in my own world)
12. Nintendo music (to focus)
13. Notion (to keep life organized)
14. The Apple Ecosystem
15. Another cat for the first cat (friends!)

Honestly the first lesson, “Don’t Be Embarrassed,” resonated with me a lot. I wasn’t expecting the first lesson to stand out to me considering the fact that Saltz gives us 33 lessons, but it hits very close to home. To give context, my major is graphic communications and my minor is new media arts. Both major and minor expect me to be creative. I like to edit videos and create graphics for fun. However, sometimes I would often compare myself to others and think what I created is not up to par with everyone else’s creations. Usually I would compare myself with someone who already has a bunch of experience in their creative field, but that’s the thing– they gained all those experiences. They weren’t born to be good at art, they had to learn. They have failed and succeeded multiple times. Sometimes I would get lost in the comparison and envy that I do not realize that they have probably struggled in their creative journey as well. Sometimes I would look at a video that I edited and think “oh this looks so nice,” but once I see someone else’s video where I believe to be “better” than my own, my confidence crumbles and I would scrap the project. I’m still learning how to be proud of my own work, but this lesson was too relatable. It stood out to me because it made me realize that everyone has their own creative journey and would eventually get to where they want to be. I’m just starting out, which is something I have to remember. I have done creative projects (not professionally, but just for fun) since I was in middle school, so I have some experience. Saltz in the beginning of the article says, “How do you get from there to making real, great art? There’s no special way; everyone has their own path.” I think this advice is not just for artists, but for people in general. Whether that’s art, wanting to become a doctor, having the dream of running a coffee shop and flower shop combined, or college students trying to figure out their future in only 4 years…”everyone has their own path” (Saltz).