Building with Bricolage Exhibit
- February 25 - April 1, 2019
- Hunt Library, First Floor Exhibit Cases
As the future becomes present and the past turns to prologue, the way we engage with our media landscape will forever transform. Constant format changes enabled by high-tech innovation allow old media to die and new ones to rise. This determines how we engage with culture and affects our creative output. The media we use determine expression and communication. The visual arts are no different and the death of physical media is very real. Movies available on DVD are scarce on VHS and perhaps no longer accessible on film. Printed matter is giving way to electronic resources. The audio cassette is outdated and the compact disc is soon to follow. This influences not only how we use this material for artistic purposes but the copyright law and cultural regulations that surround them.
The "Building with Bricolage" exhibit represents the work of Carnegie Mellon University Libraries Speaker Craig Baldwin as well as the media in which he creates. Bricolage is the act of construction using whatever is available to you, either through the physical creation of art or the psychological process of creative thinking. Craig’s work in found footage and appropriation, not only in cinema but also in other media, follows this reasoning as he salvages the forgotten films and media mechanics left behind by the technological burden. Using collage in combination with media archeology, Baldwin is able to create alternative forms of history while subverting the very medium that carries its message. The reclaiming of this terrain also addresses the concept of intellectual property; one where fair use is championed and copyright is questioned in order to generate an influx of ideas that both benefit and challenge the culture.