Appropriation is the act of borrowing elements from previously published texts and using them in new ways like changing the context or narrative. Similar to the act of cutting out paragraphs from books and pasting them in a different order. Famous examples of appropriation appear in Led Zeppelin's use of lyrics and musical riffs from other blues musicians. Or the way in which comedy musician "Weird Al" Yankovic appropriates the music from popular contemporary songs and changes the lyrics (usually about Pop culture) for comedic effect. Films have used this technique a lot in recent times as well- For example, Star Wars uses the classic character archetypes from classical mythology and storytelling techniques from westerns (the gun battles) and Kurosawa samurai films (the sword fights); Indiana Jones appropriates various situations and action scenes from the B movies and saturday matinee serials of the 1930s & 40s (e.g. the truck chase in the first film was appropriated from the 1944 film "Zorro's Fighting Legion").
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-Ben
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ReplyDeleteAnother (personal) example is the Martial Art that I learn-Jeet Kune Do (The Way of the Intercepting Fist). The Philosophy of this Martial Art is that it doesn't confine itself to any one way or doctrine of fighting. Therefore what [those who practice the art] do is we take whatever is useful to us and take it from wherever we can find it. We are in a sense, learning and appropriating from different forms from different "styles" (& what is useful to the learner in particular) to create our own JKD. I like to "appropriate" from Wing Chun, Western Boxing, Hung Gar, Tai Chi and Kali/Eskrima.
ReplyDelete-Ben
This is uniquely a postmodern technique because it appears to be a rejection of one truth or one grand theory or master-narratives (movements traditionally associated with modernism) and a celebration of many truths and many theories. This technique is indubitably based on spectacle and surface (traditionally associated with postmodernism) rather than "true" art and depth (usual traits of modernism). A celebration of style (postmodernism) rather than substance (modernism).
ReplyDeleteThe question then would be "Why archive something because of its use of Appropriation?" Because Many cases for archiving something are based on archiving an image or a moving image based on Modernist ideas such as Substance, Depth or Representations and Appropriation is a style, spectacle and surface technique only. That's why- Because it's an odd and slightly audacious idea that we can offer to a "style film" the privilege that is mostly (if not only) offered to a "substance film"-Preservation for Posterity. It seems like an affront to the bourgeois nature of distinguishing between what is "High art" and what is "Low Art".
ReplyDeleteAs well as this, I love the technique of Appropriation because it, in its best uses, references, pays homage to and celebrates the influences of the author (and directs people to the source of the appropriation, giving the source a new audience). I also like to pick out the appropriations as a bit of extra fun while watching the film (enhancement of the experience of watching the film), but as far as art is concerned it is a technique that brilliantly illustrates the 5th Golden Rule of Filmmaking by Jim Jarmusch
ReplyDelete-"Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination"
-Ben.
Sources
ReplyDelete-Everything is a Remix series-http://www.everythingisaremix.info/
-Top 10 Dumbest Indiana Jones Moments-http://cinemassacre.com/2009/07/06/top-ten-dumbest-indiana-jones-moments/
-Video: "Zorro's Fighting Legion Stunts"-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IltyRrKqVcY
[To be tidied up with Harvard Referencing]