Everything is a Remix Part 4 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.
This is one of the most engaging and well-edited documentary series I’ve watched. I highly recommend you to watch all four parts if you have an appreciation for culture.
Everything is a Remix explains how every work of art, music, inventions, or some other idea isn’t so original as one might think. Instead, creating culture begins by borrowing and building upon other people’s ideas over time. Culture is more of an evolution rather than a big bang.
“Copy, Transform, and Combine”
Hunter S. Thompson learned to write novels by copying Hemingway word for word until he figured out a formula and created his unique voice. Likewise, classically trained artists and musicians learn the styles of the old masters first before they could develop their own style.
If you wanted to have credibility in the fine arts world, you needed to demonstrate competency in basic still life, anatomy, figure drawings, and the color wheel. Just take a look at Pablo Picasso’s earlier works. As a musician, you needed to learn composers starting from the Baroque era, instead of learning just pop music.
Let ideas roam free without the restriction of intellectual property laws.