Appropriation

Nous étions, donc nous sommes: le rôle de l'appropriation d'une représentation historique pour définir clairement son identité collective

by Raphaël Gani

L’histoire est essentielle à la définition d’une identité collective (Hammack, 2008). La théorie de la clarté de... more L’histoire est essentielle à la définition d’une identité collective (Hammack, 2008). La théorie de la clarté de l’identité collective (Taylor 1997, 2002) souligne que le rappel de l’histoire est essentiel aux membres d’un groupe pour définir clairement leur identité collective et aspirer au bien-être collectif. Par contre, cette théorie ne propose pas de processus expliquant comment le rappel de l’histoire parvient à clarifier la définition d’une identité collective. Pour combler cette lacune, nous présentons un nouveau modèle théorique qui intègre le concept de l’appropriation d’une représentation historique à la théorie de la clarté de l’identité collective. Nous postulons qu’une représentation historique doit susciter une forte appropriation afin de clarifier la définition d’une identité collective.

Reactions to the crisis: appropriation movements in Greece and Germany

by Hartwig Pautz

Together with Margarita Kominou I presented this paper at the Greek Politics Specialist Group Conference in December 2011 at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow.

‘Thieves’ Thieves’ and ‘Superheroes’ – masked or playfully disguised activists taking from shops and luxury... more ‘Thieves’ Thieves’ and ‘Superheroes’ – masked or playfully disguised activists taking from shops and luxury restaurants and giving to the poor and to the impoverished middle classes are the topic of this paper. We want to look at such organized collective appropriation of goods in Greece and Germany, as it has occurred before and during the current economic, financial and social crisis, in a comparative perspective. In both countries, the appropriators have distributed the goods amongst people who they identified, in the case of Germany, as deprived, poor and vulnerable persons, or, in the case of Greece, or as members of the struggling middle classes. In Greece, the appropriators have also kept the goods for themselves. While the actions in Greece and Germany differ considerably in form and, in particular, in their intensity, both forms of direct action have occurred within a similar context: across much of the developing and developed world, the past twenty years have witnessed a number of new forms of resistance to what is perceived as the increasingly exploitative circumstances in societies perceived as more and more ‘unjust’. While participation in organized labour and in electoral politics as the ‘traditional’ form of channelling and settling social conflict has become less popular – as sinking electoral turnout, shrinking party membership and protests against ‘establishment politics’ – direct collective action in various guises has become more important to those wanting to achieve certain political outcomes. The specific context in which such political activism takes place can be encapsulated by the term ‘state transformation’ and includes changes – and their effects – in economic, welfare and labour market regulations which have occurred in both countries as well as in the majority of EU member states since the 1980s.
These effects of state transformation consist, inter alia, of rising inequality and the crumbling of hard-won welfare state services. It is therefore not astonishing that significant parts of the public have in both countries considered appropriation activism as legitimate; in particular because those identified as ‘really’ responsible for the crisis are seen as getting off lightly or, indeed, winning from the crisis. Such endorsement of illegal action indicates the loss of trust in the state and in the workings of the market, and an increasingly cynical attitude toward the law. This paper therefore addresses the question of ‘responses’ to the crisis by looking at how political activism has – or has not – been stimulated in Greece and in Germany.

Appropriation of the Eclipse Ecosystem: Local Integration of Global Network Production

by Gunnar Stevens

Gunnar Stevens and Sebastian Draxler (2010): Appropriation of the Eclipse Ecosystem: Local Integration of Global Network Production. Proc. of the COOP'10, Aixen Provence, 2010

Eclipse and Mozilla Firefox represent a new type of open software that can be supplemented by manifold extensions,... more Eclipse and Mozilla Firefox represent a new type of open software that can be supplemented by manifold extensions, being implemented by independent software vendors and open source projects. Research on such software ecosystems shows that collaboration patterns in the software industry evolve from value chains to value nets. An often ignored side-effect of this development is a vast extent of integration work that needs to be done by users. Taking a user point of view, this paper presents an empirical study on the practices of appropriating the Eclipse ecosystem as an example of radical tailorability, based on new opportunities given by the surrounding ecosystem. We show the practices users have developed to manage the antagonism of maintaining a stable and productive working environment, while simultaneously innovating it. Based on these results, we outline different opportunities to improve flexible software by supporting cooperation among the diverse actors involved, in a network of production and consumption.

Supporting the Collaborative Appropriation of an Open Software Ecosystem

by Gunnar Stevens

Sebastian Draxler, Gunnar Stevens: Supporting the Collaborative Appropriation of an Open Software Ecosystem. Computer Supported Cooperative Work 20(4-5): 403-448 (2011)

Since the beginning of CSCW there was an intense interest for research on workplace design using tailorable... more Since the beginning of CSCW there was an intense interest for research on workplace design using tailorable applications and sharing customizations. However, in the meantime the forms of production, distribution, configuration and appropriation of software have changed fundamentally. In order to re␣ect these developments, we enlarge the topic of discussion beyond customizing single applications, but focusing on how people design their workplaces making use of software ecosystems. We contribute to understand the new phenomenon from within the users’ local context. By empirically studying the Eclipse software ecosystem and its appropriation, we show the improved flexibility users achieve at designing their workplaces. Further the uncovered practices demonstrate, why design strategies like mass-customization are a bad guiding principle as they just focus on the individual user. In contrast we outline an alternative design methodology based on existing CSCW approaches, but also envision where the workplace design in the age of software ecosystems has to go beyond.

Provisioning 2.0: Diffusion kleinteiliger Software in sozialen Netzwerken

by Gunnar Stevens

Draxler, S., Sander, H. & Stevens, G. Provisioning 2.0: Diffusion kleinteiliger Software in sozialen Netzwerken. Control 665-677 (2010).at <http://webdoc.sub.gwdg.de/univerlag/2010/mkwi/&gt;

Der Trend zu verteilter Projektarbeit, als auch der Trend zu kleinteiliger, kontinu- ierlich weiterentwickelter... more Der Trend zu verteilter Projektarbeit, als auch der Trend zu kleinteiliger, kontinu- ierlich weiterentwickelter Software1 verstärken die Notwendigkeit Softwarewerk- zeuge schnell und flexibel in den lokalen Kontext von Arbeitsgruppen zu integrie- ren. Dies stellt neue Anforderungen an Provisioning-Werkzeuge (Wolf 2003; Gerlach, Güven et al. 2007; Reiswich 2008), welche die Bereitstellung, Konfigura- tion, Wartung und Administration von IT-Systemen in Unternehmen unterstützen sollen. Insbesondere gilt es die zumeist zentralistischen Ansätze um Formen des dezentralen, selbst-organisierten IT-Management zu ergänzen, um so die Aneig- nung und Diffusion von Werkzeugen und Werkzeugexpertise in agilen Projekt- teams zu unterstützen.
In diesem Beitrag stellen wir deshalb mit Peerclipse einen neuen Ansatz vor, der die Rolle der Kollegen als „Empfehlungssystem“ für die Auswahl und Aneig- nung geeigneter Tools softwaretechnisch unterstützt und das Gruppenbewusstsein über Werkzeugnutzung im Team fördert.

The Transcendence of Transgression in Jack Smith’s Flaming Creatures

by Scott Birdwise

Apocalypse Now: An Interview with Joy Garnett

by Joy Garnett

Apocalypse Now
Interview with Joy Garnett, by John Armitage. Cultural Politics 7:1 (Mar 2011)

Also at: more Also at: http://culturalpolitics.dukejournals.org/content/7/1/59.full

Joy Garnett is an American painter who lives and works in New York City. Garnett's work is associated with what she calls the “apocalyptic sublime,” a metaphysical condition of combined astonishment and terror in the presence of huge natural or often uncanny human and technological forces. Influenced by contemporary painters that include Peter Doig and Luc Tuymans, Garnett's work is often based on techno-scientific or photo-journalistic images she collects from the Internet. Garnett can usefully be situated alongside other contemporary artists who examine themes relating to the apocalyptic and the sublime at the junctions of cultural and media politics, dating from the paintings of the late Jack Goldstein, to more recent works by Robert Longo, Thomas Ruff, An-My Lê, and Marc Handelman. Represented by the Winkleman Gallery in New York City, Garnett's works have been shown at MoMA P.S.1 and The Whitney Museum of American Art. Exhibition catalogs include Atomic Afterimage (Boston University Art Gallery, 2008); Strange Weather, Lucy Lippard (National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, 2007); and Image War: Contesting Images of Political Conflict (Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, 2006). In light of her recent solo exhibition at Winkleman Gallery in October 2010, Garnett discusses her paintings and her methods for Cultural Politics with its coeditor John Armitage, who teaches new media and the arts in the Department of Media, Northumbria University, United Kingdom. Garnett has served as Arts Editor at Cultural Politics since 2005.

Portfolio: ON THE RIGHTS OF MOLOTOV MAN: Appropriation and the art of context

by Joy Garnett

Harper's February 2007
PORTFOLIO: [pp.53-58]

On the Rights of Molotov Man:
Appropriation and the art of context
By Joy Garnett and Susan Meiselas

Joy Garnett is a painter and the arts editor of the journal Cultural Politics. Susan Meiselas is a photographer best... more Joy Garnett is a painter and the arts editor of the journal Cultural Politics. Susan Meiselas is a photographer best known for her documentation of human-rights issues in Latin America. Both artists live in New York City, and their work has appeared previously in Harper's Magazine. This portfolio is drawn from their conversation at the New York Institute for the Humanities' "Comedies of Fair U$e" symposium, which took place in Spring 2006 at New York University.

Follow the Image

by Joy Garnett

Cultural Politics - An internationally refereed journal published by Berg, Oxford, UK
Volume 1, Issue 1, March 2005

New York artist Joy Garnett outlines her methods as a painter who works from sampled or found images. She discusses... more New York artist Joy Garnett outlines her methods as a painter who works from sampled or found images. She discusses her relationship to her sources, which have included science photographs, declassified military and news media imagery. She describes the challenges she has encountered while working with different types of source material: from technical obstacles (invisible phenomena that require lenses and other optical devices) to socio-political mediation (government secrecy and the search for declassified imagery), to legal encumbrances (accusations of "piracy" and copyright infringement regarding a sampled image). Garnett explains her sense of the continued relevance and critical potential of art in light of these challenges, specifically the uses of painting in an age of mass production and digital technology.

To Open […] To Collect […] To Expand […] To Continue: Richard Serra’s Verb List, Post-Internet Appropriation, and the Culture of the Use of Forms

by Brandon Bauer

To Open […] To Collect […] To Expand […] To Continue: Richard Serra’s Verb List, Post-Internet Appropriation, and the Culture of the Use of Forms published in Pool (December 2011).

http://pooool.info/

This essay examines the tension between the culture of use signaled by the internet and the culture of ownership... more This essay examines the tension between the culture of use signaled by the internet and the culture of ownership embedded in the clearance culture of restrictive copyright law through a comparison with and reinterpretation of Richard Serra’s 1967-1968 verb list.

Three Peters and an Obsession with Pierre in 'a Piece of Work': Intellectual Property in John Greyson's 'Uncut' (with Rosemary J. Coombe)

by Martin Zeilinger

forthcoming in a volume of essays on John Greyson's work, edited by Brenda Longfellow, McGill-Queen's University Press 2012

To begin with: justifying Marley in A Christmas Carol

by Pete Orford

The Dickensian, forthcoming

This article examines the purpose of Marley's ghost in Dickens's tale. Marley is a vital role within the context of... more This article examines the purpose of Marley's ghost in Dickens's tale. Marley is a vital role within the context of the original, yet this has been minimised with the frequent appropriation of the Carol, so that popular memory of the play's structure and characters has been reduced to the fundamentals of Scrooge and the three spirits of Christmas past, present and yet to come.

The article first considers the role of Marley both as an agent of change alongside the other three spirits, which entails a consideration of Scrooge's experience as a paranormal course of cognitive behaviour therapy; the article then considers the narrative significance of Marley's ghost, in particular the depth of his relationship with Scrooge.

The Problem with Plagiarism

by Inge Economou

Conference paper:
2011 DEFSA Conference (Design Educators Forum of South Africa)
6th International conference
20/20 Design Vision
Johannesburg, 7/8 September 2011

his study examines the concept of visual plagiarism within a contemporary cultural context shaped by postmodern design... more his study examines the concept of visual plagiarism within a contemporary cultural context shaped by postmodern design theory and the digital information age, as a challenging concern for tertiary level graphic design education.
This paper does not condone plagiarism, however it asks design lecturers to reconsider taken-for- granted assumptions that students operate in an unambiguous environment of ‘wrong’ and ‘right’ when it comes to the concept of visual plagiarism. It seems that graphic design students find it increasingly difficult to navigating the grey areas between plagiarism, appropriation, homage, inspiration, ‘referencing’, coincidence and ‘accident’. Disturbing as this may be at an ethical level, it is perhaps not surprising when one considers the contemporary world in which we live and work. This environment is actively shaped by postmodern ideas of appropriation, digital ‘sampling’, digital reproduction and the Internet experience as an infinite repository (resource) of textual and visual information. The ‘remix’ realm within which students operate reinforces postmodern concepts of appropriation and affect students’ understanding of and attitude towards plagiarism. Furthermore, in a postmodern design context, the term plagiarism can be problematic, as there seems little consensus as to where the lines can be drawn between ‘borrowing’ or ‘referencing’ (postmodern appropriation or pastiche) and ‘stealing’ (plagiarism).
This paper briefly describes and contextualises terms relating to the topic, including pastiche, parody, and appropriation. Secondly, the features of contemporary culture including issues such as digital reproduction and the Internet experience are examined insofar as they can be seen to construct, encourage or support understandings relating to plagiarism. As a qualitative study this paper assimilates information from a variety of literature sources including Fredric Jameson’s work on the postmodern concept of ‘pastiche’ to map out terms and concepts which provide a theoretical foundation.
A critical evaluation of the theories and concepts surrounding visual plagiarism and of the complex, often-contradictory contexts within which students operate, provides insight into the challenges faced, as a first step approach towards addressing the problem in a pre-emptive rather than punitive manner.

Shifting values and meanings of heritage: From cultural appropriation to tourism interpretation and back

by Noel B. Salazar

Salazar, Noel B. 2012. Shifting values and meanings of heritage: From cultural appropriation to tourism interpretation and back. In S. M. Lyon & C. E. Wells (Eds.), Global tourism: Cultural heritage and economic encounters (pp. 21-41). Lanham: Altamira.

This chapter explores how translocal processes of heritage policymaking and management influence its values and... more This chapter explores how translocal processes of heritage policymaking and management influence its values and meanings—both in times of stability and of turmoil—but also how “foreign” elements are incorporated and strategically (mis)used by local service providers in the heritage products told and sold to tourists. The case study from Central Java, Indonesia, provides unique insights because the current socioeconomic conditions have intensified existing conflicts over heritage appropriation and interpretation on local, national, regional, and global levels (cf. Salazar 2010b). An in-depth analysis of the empirical findings leads to a broader reflection on the dynamic interplay between the externally imaged (represented) and locally imagined value and meaning of world heritage in Indonesia and beyond. The ethnographic data illustrate that the significance of heritage—be it natural or cultural, tangible or intangible—is characterized by ever-changing pluriversality. However, before delving into the crux of the matter, it is essential to sketch the wider context.

MP3 players : listening practices and socio-technical appropriation

by Lionel Detry

Paper presented at « Digital Culture : innovative practices and critical theories » (ECREA Digital Culture and Communication – 3rd Workshop). Barcelona, Spain, 24-25 November 2011

Duppies in the Machine, or, "Anybody know where I can buy a copy of the UPNORTH-OUTWEST GEECHEE JIBARA QUIK MAGIC TRANCE MANUAL FOR TECHNOLOGICALLY STRESSED THIRD WORLD PEOPLE?"

by Kali Tal

Presented at the American Studies Association Annual Conference, Detroit, MI, October, 2000.

A tour of contemporary white cyberculture criticism and its vexed relation to race, with a particular focus on the... more A tour of contemporary white cyberculture criticism and its vexed relation to race, with a particular focus on the theorization of John Lee's involvement in the MOD, the science fiction trope Rastas in Space, and the colonization of the black body as the site of white "hipnification."

From Panther to Monster: Black Popular Culture Representations of Resistance from the Black Power Movement of the 1960s to the Boyz in the Hood,

by Kali Tal

Published in Elaine Richards & Ronald Jackson, Innovations in African-American Rhetoric, (University of Illinois Press, 2003).

A meditation on the journey of the "Panther brand" from its Marxist revolutionary roots to its current... more A meditation on the journey of the "Panther brand" from its Marxist revolutionary roots to its current position as style icon for radical chic.

The Appropriation of Rice at Mt. Kilimanjaro: A Japanese Development Project and its Consequences. In: Peter Probst and Gerd Spittler (eds.) Between Resistance and Expansion: Explorations of Local Vitality in Africa. Münster/London: Lit, 193-209.

by Jigal Beez

Urban Art- difficulties in its typification, and evaluation methods

by Pedro Soares Neves

2010 CITTA 3rd Annual Conference on Planning Research Bringing City Form Back Into Planning, FEUP (Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto)

The present article arises in the context of an urban rehabilitation process which took place in Bairro Alto, a... more The present article arises in the context of an urban rehabilitation process which took place in Bairro Alto, a neighbourhood in Lisbon. This process, which was set in movement in July of the year 2008, aimed, amongst other things, to re-establish a visual uniformity of the public surfaces that both integrate and delimitate this specific area. Indeed, for more than two decades, a variety of non-regulated and non-commissioned personal and visual expressions multiplied and were gradually rejected by the local actors.

Having a durable rehabilitation as objective, the city council had the need to identify, preserve and promote the quality of some of these visual expressions whose authors are internationally recognised by credited contemporary art institutions such as the Tate Modern Museum, the Cartier Foundation, and so on.

This being, the definition of the theme in analysis, that is, “Urban Art”, is clarified through a chronological summary of the terms' applications. Given the complexity of the term itself only the relevant aspects of its definition to this paper are here presented.

The analysis methods adopted are those which are generally applied to analyse the characteristics of public spaces and here identified to be useful to analyse “Urban Art”

Thoughts on Originality and Appropriation: Sherrie Levine's Early Photographic Endevors

by Javier Ortega-Alvarez