In recognition of Fair Use/Fair Dealing Week 2018, we recognize student work that represent the doctrines of Fair Use. This post was submitted by Elena Deng, a freshman in the School of Design, about her collage, "10th Street Bridge." Additional examples of student art can be found in the exhibit "The Art of the Remix," on the first floor of Hunt Library through March 30, 2018.
The reason as to why I chose to do my remix the way I did was because I wanted to show the collision of two drastically different subjects and how even though these things are so different, they still can be combined in a way that is beautiful. Since I came to Pittsburgh from California, I was amazed at the way that the city appeared as well as the way that the people who lived there interacted with one another. I decided to show these different elements by using famous paintings of people to not just show the cultural vibrancy of Pittsburgh, but also the extent to which art is deeply ingrained in the city.
Remixed art isn't just using another's work and exploiting their work as one of your own. It's about embracing another's experiences and understanding that their work isn't just something for you to use–it's something you're meant to appreciate. The process of creating my version of a remixed image was that I wanted to use the colors of each different painting fragment in a way that could form a recognizable and relatable setting. In my piece, I wanted to both show the bridge of Pittsburgh and also include famous portraits making a cohesive, conglomerated image. In the piece you're able to see pieces by Chuck Close and Leonardo da Vinci, depicting people in different styles of artistry and stroke. In essence, I just wanted this piece to have a variety of different styles, people, and subjects, in order to represent the remixed culture of Pittsburgh.