Plundertechnics

I've googled it.
It doesn't exist.
I've made it up.

Not without some help/inspiration of course. I came up with the term plundertechnics after thinking about a term I came across a year or so back. Plunderphonics was a term used to describe the act of taking, or "plundering," various bits of music in order to create new songs. Mixtape, mash-up, sound collage, whatever you want to call it, this form of creation has forced us to bring into question our notions of authorship. Do those that employ the use of someone else's material create something original? Is it right? Is it legal? Is it.....cool?

So what does plundertechnics mean? In my head, I've decided the term will refer specifically to the methods by which various forms of appropriation occur in order to create new things. Stealing music, text, images, video, etc. Whatever your thieving little heart desires.

"Pirates," they've been called! The fact that we're reading Appropriation from the White Chapel series is great. I've owned the book for almost a year and never had the time to read it. Now, I have to read it for homework. Coincidence? Perhaps. I'm not complaining. In fact, allow me to align myself with all those pirates out there. This blog will be my ship and I'll steer her true, through the mist, exploring new seas, in search of what all pirates seek: treasure, wealth, booty (in my case, an understanding of the legalities and traps of piracy, and the uncovering of little gems of creation through plundering).

Speaking of booty, shake yours to my parting gift: a video mashup (more appropriation!) set to the mashup track of one of my favorite mashup artists out there - Girl Talk. (so much mashing)