Under the spotlight: Cory Arcangel
Because Cory started off as a musician (later transitioning into a tech/music major) I feel like he best exemplifies what it means to be a remix artist. He credits Pauline, a friend he took a composition course with, for introducing him to and jumpstarting an artistic perspective in machinery. We later see this in many of his works.
I recognized a pattern amongst many of his pieces: video games. He first started by releasing 8-bit music and further transitioned into more visual pieces of art. Super Mario Clouds, Totally Fucked, Super Mario Movie all revolve around him modifying the game cartridge to make his pieces, usually a cinematic experience. Totally Fucked takes the Nintendo cartridge and removes the background to the original game and leaves Mario in a field of blue nothingness.
Similarly, Tetris Screwed modifies the original game to be incredibly slow. It takes about 8 hours for the pieces to fall in one complete game.
I think Cory is the perfect example when it comes to explaining remixing. He takes normal mediums of entertainment such as video games, films, or songs by Bruce Springsteen, and alters them to perform in the way he likes. Its a remix of both his original thoughts and creative ideas with other people's works. But beyond that, I think he takes these pieces of machinery, music, and film remixes them, and finally repurposes them as a new medium: sensorial art.
My favorite piece: Verticals
Here he takes popular sweatsuits from common athletic brands and showcases them as art mediums.
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