A close friend of mine is an artist, and a talented one at that. For Christmas this year, she gave me a print of two of her favorite people of all time: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The piece is a recreation of a well known photo of the two in a (possibly?) waltz pose. Only, she remixed her piece to truly capture how well these two move together.
I think its great example of a remix that brings to light questions of ownership. In class last week, we were talking about infringement laws, especially surrounding music. Music files are protected by harsh laws to protect who can share music files, and what constitutes pirating. I know art work has similar laws regarding who can recreate and use images. But what about a photograph such as this? I have a hard time believing my friend has done anything wrong in her remix. To me she is a fan showing appreciation. But if she had done a similar remix with a copyrighted piece, would she be considered a theif for using a copyrighted image?
Her piece reminded me of Andy Warhol's remix on Marilyn Monroe's image. I don't think he was considered a theif, so what makes a person a theif, or a pirate?
Any thoughts?
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