Essay - Design Culture Lyons, Kevin. 'Cease and Desist, Issues of Cultural...

design culture

Lyons, Kevin. "Cease and Desist, Issues of Cultural Reappropriation in Urban Street Design." Design Culture. Ed. Stephen Heller, Marie F*****amore. New York: Allworth Press, 1997, p. 13-15. This article largely consists of the authors' interview material with four ***** the most *****rominent ***** successful urban designers: Eric "Haze," James Jebbia, Ssur Russ, and Joseph Melendez. Although brief, the article allows a glimpse into ***** mindsets surrounding reappropriation of imagery, or "biting," as it is called on the street. Biting is m*****e comm*****ly known in the musical world, in which small sound bites known as samples are reappropriated and synthesized into an entirely new creative project. If there ***** indeed nothing new under the sun then design reappropriation is simply an extension of all other creative processes. Reappropriation in the realm ***** the visual arts may entail biting a portion of ***** corporate logo or product ***** as a springboard f***** something new. Lyons shows, through his interview ***** and commentary around it, that reappropriation is one way oppressed social groups and minorities create sub*****s and engender pride within their communities. Occasionally the justi*****ication behind ***** ***** ***** symbols is a simple tit for tat: as James ***** notes, corporations regularly reappropriate urban designs and ideas at huge profit margins. Reappropri*****ion of corporate design thus serves also as a met*****phor for the triumph of the *****dog. Urban street culture is inescapably hostile and competitive and urban design is one of the key ways artists establish personal ***** collective identities in ***** midst of otherwise painful economic realities. In his interviews, Lyons also touches upon intellectual property rights and potential sources of misappropriation: especially in cases where an ethnic or racial minority might feel *****fended by the method by which its ***** were "bitten off." ***** article, while altogether too brief for any in-depth analysis, nevertheless offers a good springbo*****rd for discussion.

Coombo, Rosemary J. "Is there Legal Protection for ***** Imagery?" Design Culture. *****. Stephen Heller, Marie Finamore. New *****: Allworth Press, 1997, p. 16-18. In t***** article, the author criticizes the limitations of copyright law ***** not protecting cultural emblems or expressions. Intellectual property law arises from a Euro-centric worldview, ***** that champions individualism and therefore one that protects individual creative ***** more than collective ones. As a result, ***** *****, which do not hold individualism in such high esteem as a cultur*****l value, are at risk for the misappropriation of their ideas, symbols, and creative art forms. Furthermore, many ***** forms are not legally defined as "art" in a Western Europe*****n context, ***** as food preparation or ritual tat*****s. While Coombo's argument is enlightening and offers insight ***** the ***** of intellectual property ***** ***** laws, her *****icle ***** devoid ***** real **********. Lacking in solid examples save f***** ***** one about Crazy Horse, the article cannot adequately illustrate why appropriation o***** cultural ***** is wrong, when such ***** might be tolerated, and how the legal system can adapt to include collective cultural expressions under ***** rubric