[rumori] commodification of... insider/outsider

Steev [rumori] commodification of... insider/outsider
Wed, 16 Dec 1998 18:09:38 -0800 (PST) (00913860578, Pine.LNX.4.05.9812161753520.3437-100000atflotsam.detritus.net)

On Wed, 16 Dec 1998, Polenberg, Todd wrote:


>i think the line between flow and not flow has more to do with how/where one
>is selling their work than how much of it gets sold. hasn't it been easier
>for you/us to just become part of the outsider flow? the internet has
>allowed us to set up an alternate network of dissemination--shouldn't we be
>more interested in exploring and protecting that than banging our heads
>against (or feeling the warm sprinkle of piss as it rebounds against) the
>mainstream system? or can we really deal from both ends of the deck w/o
>sacrificing our ideals? or is 'sacrificing our ideals' just kind of an
>outmoded concept? (if so, color me outmoded, i guess...)

good points. i think another way to draw that line has to do with
what an artist is trying to achieve. of course with many artists, most of
us don't know the answer to that, though we might have guesses. so it
comes down to the artist's view of themselves and where they are
in their own personal scheme of right and wrong.

For instance, if an artist's main goal in his work is to address the
plight of the Tibetans, it might matter little to him whether he is on a
major label or not. in fact it might be preferable. What might matter more
is if the plants that press his CDs are located in China or not.

On the other hand, an artist whose main goal is to expose the cultural
contradictions of multinational corporations might care much more about
major labels and the like.

On a third hand - its a really fine line. i see nothing wrong with
fighting the system from within, as long as you really are and that's
not just a cop out. there's flow and then there's flow. there's
different kinds of corrupting influences. For instance, distribution is
pretty different than a full-fledged recording contract. Taking advantage
of mainstream distribution channels is great if you're not giving
up anything you value.

smh


Steev Hise, Would-be World-Wide Web Wizard (WWWWW)
steevathise.org http://www.cyborganic.com/people/steev recycled art site: http://www.detritus.net -----------------------------------------------------------------
"Information stolen is information improved." -Jon Van Oast
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