Free Culture 53-79

On page 58-9 Lessig talks about the radio and argues that if the law was consistent, a radio station that had played a song from a recording artist, would have to pay them for their work, but they don't. He then states that only the composer is paid, so in exchange the radio station "has the right to take something for nothing". I disagree because if I composed a song and I put all my heart into writing it and someone decided to use my lyrics and perform the song I composed, I would want to get paid for it's use. Why should the recording artist get paid? The artist isn't losing much compared to how much they'll get paid for performing the song (59). Even though the artist isn't getting paid, they are getting the fame and attention which the composer may not even get. So as a whole the radio station still has to pay the composer but the recording artist performing the song doesn't deserve to get paid for it's use on the radio when they did not compose the song themselves.

POL(49-62)

The word "Taste" can be anything related to music, film, clothing, art etc. This word ultimately comes down to what people define as "good taste" or "bad taste" (56). This word is very complex because what exactly defines good taste between bad taste (57). For example I like Nike and Addidas (shoes) and my friend told me why don't I get running shoes and it's not that I don't like running shoes I would just rather wear Nike or Addidas because they can be used for running and just walking around. This is where word "taste" is complex because the issue about the shoes isn't about taste it's just preference. Furthermore on page 59 it describes one of Italy's most unwanted paintings and I noticed that the book didn't say anything about the extremely noticeable "Pink Power Ranger" in the back which to me made the piece standout. This shows that the individual viewer who knows about the show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers may like the piece but the audience who doesn't may not connect with it or feel anything towards the piece unless they like Elvis or nude male statues (49).

Free Culture (15-30)

Piracy does more than just rob someone from the profit they could have made but the hard work that went into creating the work i.e. film, music, and books. By using the internet it's very easy to steal someone's work or create a variation of it and make a profit off of it but in the case of the manga doujinshi there aren't enough lawyers to really stop these products from being made (27). It's sad becuase this crime is still going on because most people still do it regardless if it's a crime or not. Here's a good example of piracy being a real problem which can be seen in the video by artist Mutiny Within and their song entitled "Embers" which illustrates the problem of piracy becuase one of their albums was a victim of online piracy.  Here's the link http://www.metalinjection.net/video/mutiny-within-embers-video-premiere

Free Culture (7-15)

The internet as a whole seems to have been implanted into our daily lives ever since it was invented. The internet is like electricity, you can live without it but why would you? After all electricity makes life so much easier and it would be hard to imagine living without it which is the exact same way we look at internet. Not only that people use the internet to create ideas and share culture (8). But this so called free culture has been victim to corporations wanting to rid any competition out there (9). But it's understandable in some cases when there is a legitimate case being made. For example the actor Shia LaBeouf was being sued by well known comic artist Daniel Clowes for plagiarism. Click the link to read more http://www.avclub.com/article/shia-labeoufs-plagiarism-finally-receives-legal-ac-106808

POL 145-51 Realism

Realism is representing people, places, and objects the way they are seen in the real world (146). But the image shown on page 146 has abstract elements which was used to counteract the Soviet Constructivist realism type of art. This is important becuase it shows that artists didn't want to create actual images from the world but more along the lines of abstract art. Those who didn't follow Joseph Stalin's art style were exiled which I felt boxed their artist's imagination by only using social realism. This is important becuase without using your imagination for new ideas nothing will change.
                                   

POL 9-26 Representation

Images themselves carry a lot of meanings whether they are paintings or photographs. As described on page 9 images can be used in a variety of ways which depend on the one viewing the images. For example the power images carry can either have a positive or negative effect on the one viewing them (9). But images can also be altered to bring about a different meaning than what the original image had without alteration. This is shown on page 13 and 14 which show two very identical images but one has been altered with human-like faces on the objects being represented in the original image.

Practices of Looking Intro

The world around us is dominated by visual culture because we as humans depend on technology to connect ourselves to the world around us (1). With this technology as described on page 1, we revolve around technology that requires us to use our eyes to visually connect ourselves to what is being seen like your cell phone, laptop, and t.v. Culture also plays an important role when looking at something visually like a television ad, news program, and even an on-going debate. This is important becuase everyone has there own opinions and biases involving the visual examples listed above. This can partly be due to culture but as explained on page 4 even if someone shares the same culture with someone they may interpret a television ad differently depending on the knowledge and experiences of those individuals.