This documentary touches on the notion that our culture always builds on the past, and in order to have “free societies,” we have to limit control of the past— which in this case are the regulations placed on certain ideas. I agree with this because in this digital age, it’s getting increasingly difficult to actually have a truly original idea especially in terms of making music. There are millions of songs out there that are constantly being sampled or recycled to make more music showing how people’s creativity can build off of each other in order to create something new. This does not necessarily mean that the person who created the newer song is any less creative, just that people are finding ways to be collaborative and innovative. Having the ability to freely exchange ideas between people is what will allow our society to continue to grow and evolve. 

Copyrights make this an issue because it views ideas as intellectual property. The rules they enforce on the use of certain music ultimately limits creativity. I believe that this happens to appease big corporations in the entertainment industry so that they can make money off people who want to use or sing a certain song. Girl Talk’s process of making remixes shows the amount of effort it takes to actually make something new from old music. Ultimately, this creative process is still art and should not be limited just because of copyright. 

On the other hand, copyrights should be in place to protect and give artists money for their creation. There is a line between taking samples from songs to create new music and completely plagiarizing something and marketing it as yours. In those cases, it’s important for copyright laws to give justice to the artists.

Manovich’s stance on modularity being individual media elements ”assembled into larger-scale objects but continue to maintain their separate identities… without losing their independence,” stood out to me because it’s a major way to differentiate between traditional and new media. Old media is more static, and removing/changing one element of it would likely mess up its structure requiring you to start over. For example, if you mess up paint on canvas, you aren’t able to just delete that part of the painting, you would need to paint over it to cover it up. On the other hand, new media is dynamic, which allows users to customize its elements independent of other parts.

I found this interesting because it changes how we create media and lets us have more flexibility when interacting with digital content. Using his example of websites being completely modular, they are programmed to use individual elements like user data to update and create personalized experiences and algorithms for us. Hence, why people scrolling through social media will find that their pages often seem perfectly curated to fit their interests.

A personal example of modularity is using apps like Procreate to make art. I can add and draw whatever I like using multiple layers, each with a separate purpose that overlaps without actually changing the existing art. One layer can be used to draw the outline, another can be used to color, and a third to create shadow or a landscape. Regardless, I am able to delete or alter any of the layers to my heart’s content without it affecting my whole work because of the fact that these different components can be modified independently. Overall, this concept of modularity has completely changed the way people produce and consume media, while also making way for automation and variability as principles of new media.

1. white cookie pepero
2. osmanthus oolong pocky
3. red bean matcha pejoy
4. chocolate pejoy
5. sakura matcha pocky
6. cheesecake pocky
7. rich matcha pocky
8. utra slim chocolate pocky
9. green tea pocky
10. almond crush pocky
11. matcha ice cream pocky
12. jasmine tea pocky
13. peppermint pocky
14. camellia and green grape pejoy
15. lavender blueberry pejoy

This is a ranked list of my favorite pocky/pejoy/pepero flavors(asian snack that’s essentially a biscuit stick with cream). A list is a sequence of things written down to help organize your thoughts.

Lessons 1-5 from Saltz’s article really resonated with me due to his insistence on embracing your personal stories and experiences. No two people go through the same experience and come out with the same story to tell, much like how people may have different interpretations of the same piece of art. Thus, I support his notion that “art is not about understanding,” but about doing and experiencing. 

Art, literature, and language are all nuanced; while it could mean everything to one person, it could simultaneously mean nothing at all to somebody else. Not everything needs to have some overarching meaning for it to be important to us. When you create something, you are the only one that can truly determine its value so it shouldn’t matter if nobody else can understand it as long as you enjoy it yourself. This is compelling because I believe more people should adopt this mindset. In our society, we often strive to please others or rationalize every action we take rather than living in the moment with our own experiences, which may hinder our freedom of expression. 

Take nonobjective or abstract art for example; people often feel disconnected and criticize artists for creating something that doesn’t depict reality and with seemingly “no meaning” due to the lack of a recognizable subject within the artwork. However, nonobjective art isn’t necessarily made to be interpreted by everybody because at the end of the day, artists are creating it to explore their own aesthetic and inner self. It’s definitely not an art style that everyone enjoys compared to styles like realism or impressionism, but artists that work hard constantly to put out pieces like these will find personal satisfaction in being able to express themselves through it. Hence, creating a space that’s your own to embrace and let go can help you live your life a bit more freely.