…open for rebuttal and suggestions . . .
While open for refutation or fine-tuning, I have observed that appropriation—as part of the larger scope of [mechanical] reproduction—in the arts (and to a lesser extent in content|media|communication) can be categorized into three distinct mechanisms:
1. The Guild|Apprentice Mechanism.
2. The Culture|Commentator Mechanism.
3. The Medium|Thief Mechanism.
That stated, what is of higher interest to me than the actual cornered-off categories is that what is in-between these categories.
1. The Guild|Apprentice Mechanism..
Primarily, this is appropriation for the sake of learning.
To a certain extent, on the one end, it functions to stimulate a dynamic for ode, and on the other end, one for “prosperity” of style. The former is a process establishing past into present; a living form of archeology. The latter is a copying to project continuity into the future. Within this mechanism, the master nor apprentice thus do not live in the present. The present is monopolized by the master while claiming strands into the past and future.
2. The Culture|Commentator Mechanism.
Primarily, this is appropriation for the sake of reflection. Reflection here can be defined in multitude. In a sense it provides a dynamic that “throws [one] back…without absorbing [the entirety of the work from which the sample is taken].” One is culturally transported ever so slightly or ever so concealed. The appropriation becomes a re-contextualized citation potentially stripped from its original connotations.
Via convolution, meaning undergoes re-media-tion; a healing. At least the captured moment of past creativity goes in hiding away from becoming/having been diseased.
To a certain extent surrealism, irony, black humor or critique are at play as well.
3. The Media|Thief Mechanism.
sub categories hereof could be entitled “Plagiarist mechanism” and “Pirate mechanism.”
Within the Pirate mechanism the content is either multiplied via its given medium or transcoded into an even more flexible medium. For instance, a film on a DVD is pirated and sold as an unlicensed copy for commercial purposes or it is transcoded and illegally made available over torrent networks for download.
One can argue there are also social and political issues at play. For instance, a work might not be distributed within a certain territory due to the fact it is blacklisted (i.e. censored or other) or it is no longer commercially viable. The latter absence of distribution is commercially motivated and thus monopolizing cultural accessibility across the board (i.e. the popular is the most profitable) by means of ignoring niche or boutique markets.
The Plagiarist mechanism…
[when time permits more on this]
Besides the 3 categories one can, secondly, give consideration to the idea that “variations on a theme” are profoundly different from the appropriation of an element from a work.
