Revolution:USA [Coldcut/NomIg.]Online Remix Project: www.revusa.net
The basic premise is simple: remix the original activist anthem “Re:volution” with an American spin and invite the audience to do so as well. Using samples of the last 40 years of American presidents and media figures, we will create an online Archive of Political Corruption and Scandals. This site will feature an interactive timeline of major US political scandals and corruption with an integrated database containing: pertinent video clips and samples for download and streaming; pictures; a textual description of each event and offsite links for further research. This content will be served from Coldcut’s archive of clips as well as uploaded from users of the site. The site will also contain audio loops and tracks created by Coldcut which will be available for download. In essence this will be a digital library de[t/r]ailing the blatant corruption of the US political landscape in order to evoke social change through audience participation. The concept of this site is also a new form of documentary filmmaking. By offering audiovisual content in such a raw and concise form it is possible for the user to essentially create their own documentary experience by simply following the links and watching the materials in the order they choose – without the bias and editing decisions of the filmmaker.
Coldcut will then invite as many politically-conscious Internet denizens as possible – including artists, grass-roots organizations, filmmakers, and the general public - to access the site, download the materials and create cut-up a/v tracks and documentaries using the footage, the audios clips and whatever else they can get their hands on. This allows for a new intersection between artist and audience where the worlds of the filmmaker and the viewer merge into a single act. Their works will then be hosted on the site and made available as streaming media for the world to watch. Users of the site will then be able to vote for what they think are the best works and the winners will be announced. If possible, these People’s Choice selections would be screened at the FCMM or featured on the FCMM website during the festival. Prominent artists involved in the project could be invited to perform live versions of their pieces at the FCMM. Another possibility is the development of a DVD containing the best tracks released via Ninjatune. The end result is an intersection between the worlds of documentary, interactive film making and web interactivity and programming.
The concept of this project is primarily to use art as a vehicle to encourage people to explore/question the media (namely, television and film) and to counteract the passive viewing model that our society has come to live by. Much as the turntable has shifted from being a static form of media to being a malleable instrument for the reinterpretation of its original media (i.e. records), Coldcut are presenting a revolution not just in terms of political consciousness, but also in terms of how we approach the media in general. With the power of online distribution and the increasing abundance of consumer-level digital editing tools, it is becoming increasingly easy for the average person to manipulate the media. Taking their penchant for audiovisual political entertainment to the next level, Coldcut are proving that with digital culture the paradigm shift is underway; that now, more than ever, it is possible to become the media.
Interactivity with the viewer is the key ingredient to the success of this project and is simultaneously the missing ingredient from the conventional media’s approach. In contrast to most art which offers a social commentary (which can often serve the artist more than the audience), Coldcut have devised this scheme in order to motivate the audience to work through the material themselves; to actively engage with it rather than passively accept it and fall back into the placated apathy of 21st century existence as they flip the channel. What Coldcut are doing is putting the viewer into the role of the artist/filmmaker; asking them not to simply accept what the media says but to question it, to analyze it and to manipulate it. If people actually work through the material themselves they will really begin to see the issues, to make connections themselves about what is going on - personal experience is fundamental to human understanding and awareness and this is the premise from which this project was forged. Those who participate in this project will be engaged with the material, will learn the history and the corruption for themselves and in turn will be lifted out of the passive role.
This is art in motion with a real possibility of affecting the political landscape.
Now, more than ever, this is important because the American voters are split; now is the time when changing relatively few minds can actually impact the results of the election. It is important to remind all of us that each vote counts; that politicians are not always working in our best interests and that democracy is a power of the people – and now so is the media.
