Welcome to the Digital Age

We now live in an era where once a piece of work is published it is readily available on the internet in matter of minutes, if not seconds; A time where people "live" behind their computers. A time where the quality of things has changed, because of the progression that technology has made. What many people fail to realize is that, as time and technology advances, so too, the definition of creativity. If the platforms, mediums and process of invention have changed, why wouldn't the definition of creativity change with it? 

 Ridolfo and Rife expresses "What is obvious here is that composing in the digital age is different than traditional practices of composing" (229). Hence, the practice of creativity today, cannot possibly hold to the standards of the 19th nor 20th century. There is an entirely different and open playing field for everyone to be an artist, and be creative in a way they see fit. In Good Copy Bad Copy (22:33), an interviewee suggests that we live in a time when everyone has a computer with top notch remixing abilities. With this, we can become a "digital age artist" by simply mixing and mashing other people's works. In other words, we can become creative artists, just by sitting around a computer recreating and repurposing other artists’ works. 

Copyright laws however, have made it impossible for "digital age artists" to be creative in their own light.  Johnsen and Christensen made it clear that creativity is being stifled because of the copyright infringements implemented.  In the documentary, Good Copy Bad Copy (55:20) expert expresses "Creativity itself is here on the line." The music industry has made it so hard for artists today to be freely creative, and to expand and improve the works of others that it may lead to the detriment of the art or cease the progression of what is already here. Artists have no freedom to mash and remix creative pieces in a way they see as profound and contributory to their industry; that which is the culture of the digital age and its artistic works. Many creative pieces today are remakes of previous works. 

In Good Copy Bad Copy (9:37) Danger Mouse, spoke about his inclination to mix between genres. Many artists today, refuse to be confined to the limitations of the norms imposed on them. As was said by Danger Mouse "...I wanted to challenge myself," many artists strive to break the boundaries that have been set by previous eras. They seek to create something by using two different artistic pieces; this is where their creativity lies. The lack of originality of the pieces used doesn't defy the creativity of the ensued piece. It may prove to be more challenging to make two different works work in tandem and harmonize. That is the challenge that many artists delve into. That is the challenge that artists of the digital age rally towards. This strive to change by the artists make it hard for the audience or onlookers to keep up with the textuality of the their work.

This has posed a dilemma for the audience and onlookers of their works. On one hand, people struggle to understand the textuality of the creative pieces they indulge in; they struggle to understand how a text can be creative if it stems from another man's work. On the other hand, they accept the different levels of creativity and the textuality behind the each text and creative piece. Yet, there is a bit of acceptance for what it is and what it can be. There is an understanding that creativity is changing, but also that textuality remains the same. 

-Kelli

Works Cited:

Ridolfo, Jim, and Martine Courant Rife. “Rhetorical Velocity and Copyright: A Case Study on Strategies of Rhetorical Delivery.” Copy(write): Intellectual Property in the Writing Classroom. Ed. Martine Courant Rife, Shaun Slattery, and Dànielle Nicole De Voss. Fort Collins, CO: WAC Clearinghouse and Parlor P, 2011.