LEAP #4 Remixing Creativity Reflection
While searching and contributing to various projects in the Hit Record community, I kept thinking of the question Burgess (2006) asks in her piece,"Hearing Ordinary Voices: Cultural Studies, Vernacular Creativity and Digital Storytelling.” Burgess encourages readers to think of “the question that we must ask about 'democratic' media participation can no longer be limited to 'who gets to speak?'. We must also ask 'who is heard, and to what end?'." (Burgess 3). I think this passage kept coming up in my head while exploring the Hit Record community because the community allows for everyone to speak. However, the latter portions of Burgess’ questions cannot be answered in a large, unstructured community. If one just posts on their own page, they may not be heard to a great extent. However, if a person contributes to another person’s project, their own page may grow. I definitely see a project where students contribute and participate in the Hit Record community as part of my future classroom. I definitely see how Hit Record fits in with this course and was particularly surprised to see a series about Copyright!
While attending URI as an undergrad, I had the pleasure of seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt speak in Edwards Hall about his Hit Record Project. At that time, they had not developed their TV show, were featured in commercials, or were well-known outside a small community of artists. When I went to create an account for this project, I was surprised to find I had already made an account. I must have done so after seeing him speak at URI. So, when I logged on, I was quite shocked to discover I had shared 3 pieces of writing with the Hit Record community. I have not found an easy way to measure their reach, but for me, the reach doesn’t matter. When I found those posts, I was instantly flashed back to that time period in my life, when I was so desperate to be heard but did not feel like I could talk. I really relied on writing journals, poems, and short stories at that time to process the world around me and reflect on my own experiences and struggled. I remember writing on Tumblr as well, during this time. In reflections like this, it is easy for me to see how powerful media can be for people because it was so personally needed and relevant to my life at a difficult time.
While attending URI as an undergrad, I had the pleasure of seeing Joseph Gordon-Levitt speak in Edwards Hall about his Hit Record Project. At that time, they had not developed their TV show, were featured in commercials, or were well-known outside a small community of artists. When I went to create an account for this project, I was surprised to find I had already made an account. I must have done so after seeing him speak at URI. So, when I logged on, I was quite shocked to discover I had shared 3 pieces of writing with the Hit Record community. I have not found an easy way to measure their reach, but for me, the reach doesn’t matter. When I found those posts, I was instantly flashed back to that time period in my life, when I was so desperate to be heard but did not feel like I could talk. I really relied on writing journals, poems, and short stories at that time to process the world around me and reflect on my own experiences and struggled. I remember writing on Tumblr as well, during this time. In reflections like this, it is easy for me to see how powerful media can be for people because it was so personally needed and relevant to my life at a difficult time.
After a few minutes of nostalgia, I decided to explore the popular section of the contribute page and go from there. I found Lens Project 47: Capture a photo of a Silhouette where I uploaded two pictures I had taken previously, one being a sunrise over Harlem and another being a sunset over the bay in Longport, NJ. Since these were images I had previously captured, I decided to remix them by adding titles and captions.
After reflecting on how powerful writing was for me, I decided to explore different writing projects I could contribute to. I decided to contribute to the Body Book Challenge . After reading some of the pieces in the main book, I went back to the first page and was inspired by the image used for “Skin/The Body Book.” So, I decided to try drawing something new and then write about it! I ultimately decided to draw a neck, similar to the image featured on the writing challenge “The Tattoo / The Body Book” this chapter was specifically about skin, so I tried to focus on someone else’s skin and how it feels to be in another person’s.
I was at first very nervous to post things unedited and rough, but I decided to step out of my comfort zone and go for it. It's the same thing I'm doing here with this reflection, it's honest. For once, I didn't look at my peers' work before starting my own, I didn't compare my post lengths to anyone else, and didn't worry about my grade or meeting the rubric requirements (all challenges for me as a type A student). This whole experience was an interesting exercise in stepping out of myself in order to better understand myself. It was strange and unnatural, while being authentic and genuine all at once. I guess that's what being creative is: a semi-uncomfortable but fun experience. With this assignment and with Hit Record, I decided to try to be heard, regardless of how far it may reach. What's exciting about a community like this one is that reach may never stop. I think because of this aspect on ongoing remixing, kids will understand their media presence does not end. I think the uncertainty about the reach is what is exciting about it. It's not like any other social media account I have, I don't know who will see it or when. With things like Facebook and Twitter, I can expect a certain number of followers and friends to read posts. But here, there are no expectations and no friends (yet!). Hit Record helped me be brave and post even my older writings. I do not know if my words or images will be seen by another, I do not know if they will impact anyone, if they will inspire anyone, or if they will be altered by anyone. I guess I can only hope for what I found in the Hit Record community-- inspiration to get my own creative juices flowing, again.