A Mash Forum, the opening ArtBeat event! July 14, 2005

WHAT: A Mash Forum, the opening ArtBeat event!
WHERE: Somerville Library, 79 Highland Ave., 1st floor
WHEN: Thursday, July 14, 6-8pm
WHO: Panelists are: photographer Gary Duehr, composer Peter Gilbert, Somerville Head Librarian Ellen Rauch, filmmaker Jeff Silva, A.R.T. associate director Marcus Stern, DJ Jake Trussell, software guru David Turner. SAC board member Lou Bunk will introduce and moderate the forum.

Overview of event
This year's ArtBeat theme is "Mix & Mash." We're kicking off this year's festivities with a lively discussion about "mashups", sampling and "fair use" copyright laws as they relate to different art forms. If you're not familiar with the concept of mashing and sampling, this forum is the perfect primer. We'll begin with a short presentation of different ?mashups" and segue into a panel discussion. We're hoping for plenty of audience participation!

Demos
Jeff Silva will show his 5-minute film "Dressed to Kill," a five minute film that splices and subverts an M.I.T. promotional film on how nanotechnology can be used for military purposes. DJ C will showcase his musical mashing and beating matching skills. Gary Duehr will show and discuss his "Liminalities" photo series, images taken in movie theaters that capture hidden moments between frames of movie trailers.

About Mashups
In the strictest sense, a ?mashup? is the conflation of two or more songs. Perhaps the most famous recent example of this is DJ Dangermouse?s Grey Album, a collection of sonic collages that blend songs from the Beatles White Album with songs from Jay-Z?s Black Album. Though ?mashups? are a relatively new trend in music, the concept of sampling, quoting and mixing in the art world is hardly anything new. The forum will explore questions like: What constitutes an original work of art? And should copyright laws protect the rights of an ?original? artist or should there be a ?cultural commons? that allows artists to freely borrow elements from existing artworks?

About the Panelists
Gary Duehr has shown work at Gallery Kayafas and the Judi Rotenberg Gallery. He is codirector of Invisible Cities and has written for Art on Paper, Communication Arts and Frieze.

Peter Gilbert loves to write acoustic and electronic music and likes to teach what he discovers along the way. He is currently working on his dissertation at Harvard.

Ellen Rauch is the head librarian of the Somerville Public Library and a ?fair use? advocate

Jeff Silva is a Somerville-based filmmaker and co-director of the Balagan Film series.

Marcus Stern is Associate Director of the American Repertory Theatre and the A.R.T./ MXAT Institute for Advanced Theatre Training.

Jake Trussell is a DJ who performs solo as either DJ C (solo), Beat Research and Duotone. He has performed internationally and has a record label called Mashit.

David Turner teaches free software licensing for the Free Software Foundation and works to overcome liscensing roadblocks.