Appropriation of Content is at the Center of Creativity According to Kirby Ferguson

Kirby Ferguson, a New York based writer, producer, director and editor gave a lecture today at this month’s Creative Mornings on his 4-part documentary (3/4 complete) “Everything is a Remix” about how the appropriation of content has been and always will be at the center of all human creativity.

Ferguson said that, with this documentary, he hopes to destroy some lasting myths in today’s culture about what creativity is, and how it should be revered and/or protected. Among these are the myth of the “Lone Creator” (a genius-type who singularly creates an idea and/or work that is completely original) and “Ideas Are Property” (completely original ideas can be created and protected from being “stolen”).

Ferguson proposes that things are a bit more complicated. In both his lecture and his documentary, Ferguson outlined what he believes are the three critical steps in the evolution of creativity:

1. Domain Knowledge

Making blatant copies of the work one admires.

Example: Of the 13 songs in Bob Dylan’s first album, 11 were covers; Hunter S. Thompson started out by typing out complete novels like “The Great Gatsby” word-for word “just to get the feel of writing a great novel.”

2. Transformation

Variations are made on existing work to create new work.

Example: Thomas Edison’s lightbulb was not technically the first-ever electric bulb. The changes he made to existing models, however, produced the first commercially viable bulb.

3. Combination

Existing works are combined in an unprecedented way.

Example: The printing press used materials and processes that had been around for hundreds, even thousands of years—paper, ink, type, the screw press (traditionally used for pressing foodstuffs)—and created a new method of producing printed works.

Find out more about these steps by watching the third installent of Ferguson’s documentary (and the others) here:
Everything is a Remix Part 3 on Vimeo.

You can also watch all of the installments on Ferguson’s site:
everythingisaremix.info

Next month at Creative Mornings New York: Jamer Hunt, September 23, 2011

Susannah Hainley is a graphic designer for Red Rooster Group, a New York based graphic design firm that creates effective brands, websites and marketing campaigns for nonprofits to increase their visibility, fundraising and communications effectiveness. Contact us at info@redroostergroup.com.