VANCOUVER, Wash. – Mark Hosler, co-founder of the experimental music and sound collage act “Negativland” and an instrumental person in the development of the Creative Commons, will screen his film, “Illegal Art,” and speak at 5 p.m. April 27 at North Bank Artists Gallery. His appearance is part of the “LOUD & Clear” media art exhibit and performance series sponsored by the creative media and digital culture program at Washington State University Vancouver and the Associated Students of Washington State University Vancouver.
The event, “Adventures in Illegal Art: Creative Media Resistance and Negativland,” takes on the notion of media literacy, the art of audio and visual collage, creative activism in a media-saturated, multi-national world, file sharing, intellectual property issues, evolving notions of art and ownership, and law in a digital age. Artistic and funny critiques of mass media and culture, and so-called “culture jamming” (a term coined by Negativland in 1984) will be part of the evening. The event is the brainchild of creative media and digital culture senior Brian McGovern and faculty member John Barber, who worked for more than a year to bring Hosler to Vancouver.
Hosler and “Negativland” are most famous for being a thorn in the side of the corporate and entertainment media and are well known for being sued for their U2 single. They have contributed much to remix culture for their work with the Creative Commons Sampling License, an alternative to existing copyrights now used by artists. They work for progressive intellectual property rights and participate as “citizen lobbyists” for art, creativity and copyright law.
Following Hosler’s talk will be time for questions and answers, and students in CMDC’s Electronic Music course will share their capstone video and sound performance led by Jackson 2Bears, a creative media and digital culture program artist in residence.
North Bank Art Gallery is located at 1005 Main St., in downtown Vancouver. Both Hoslter’s talk and the performance are free. Seating is limited to 100 on a first-come, first-served basis. “LOUD & Clear” is the first student-led exhibit at the gallery and is curated by Setareh Alizadeh and Nicole Bucker.
The CMDC program at integrates critical thinking, creativity and computing skills with course work in the arts, humanities and social sciences to offer a broad-based, interdisciplinary degree that prepares students for a culturally diverse, technologically complex 21st century. Media production for non-profits demonstrates the program’s outreach to the local community and aims to teach students ethical development of digital technology.
For more information, contact Dene Grigar, director and associate professor of the CMDC program, 360-546-9487 or dgrigar@vancouver.wsu.edu.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Dene Grigar, director and associate professor of the CMDC program, 360-546-9487, dgrigar@vancouver.wsu.edu
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu