“Our creativity comes from without, not from within.”

The Modern Remix: New Media Created From Old Media

To me, Kirby Ferguson is a powerhouse. I first came across his work a few years ago when I saw his video “Everything is a Remix”. If you haven’t seen it I highly suggest you watch it below. In brief, the short film explains and gives examples of how so much of the things we come across in the society that surrounds us has older roots from the ideas of others. Remixing isn’t just a rap music thing. I’ve shown this video to High School and Middle School students and they love it. I get a kick out of watching their faces light up when they realize how old things are in their world and how connections can be made between what they think is “new” and “original” with stuff that was around for their grandparents. Since then he has released newer and more in depth segments to the series.

I even had the pleasure of meeting him at a Creators Project panel he spoke on. The crazy part was that we sat right next to each other by accident right before the event. He is as humble and pleasant in person as he comes across in his videos. He’s the type of video artist that makes me believe I will like anything he produces.

Kirby Ferguson speaking at TED on the topic of remixing:
Our creativity comes from without, not from within. We are not self-made. We are dependent on one another, and admitting this to ourselves isn’t an embrace of mediocrity and derivativeness. It’s a liberation from our misconceptions, and it’s an incentive to not expect so much from ourselves and to simply begin.