21.02.2019
Antonio Roberts was next on our visiting artist programme and he is actually a past student/graduate from our university. Now being a digital artist, art made with error and coding, a very unique form of artwork. Coding to me feels very matter of fact and restricting. Each formula or sequence will work in a specific way and nothing else, emotionless and predictable. But Antonio proved that it doesn't have to be predictable at all. As he showed us a few one minute clips of the videos he has produced (a mere snippet of the full length videos), they were anything but.
Antonio explained a fascination with copyright and how it's almost been lost in this digital age. Reposting photos or videos on facebook, sending them in text messages or adding captions to create 'MEMEs' are just some ways you could be in violation of the copyright laws. For example if Youtube channels/videos use another video clip, they tend to add "no copyright infringement intended" thinking it allows them use of the video/clip, when actually you're still acting against the law. Copyright laws are dated and in some ways no longer relevant because of these reasons, so does copyright still exist? The answer seems to be only when someone with enough money and/or lawyers chooses to enforce their rights to said image/video etc. Antonio agrees that there needs to be an appropriation of using other peoples work (or image) but should not be ruled out completely. Adaptations and versions of past work happens constantly. It would be very rare if not impossible to come up with an idea completely new which hasn't already been done in some way. We should instead be using and encouraging each other in our creativity inquest. Antonio explained he believes real creativity is taking something that's been done and making it your own. He encouraged us to ask ourself in the future, why am I using this image and is it appropriate/ethical to be used? But also question who is allowed to appropriate culture? Who decides one thing is okay compared to another?
It was really inspiring to see a past student of my university established in his practice, and has opened my eyes to the world of glitch art.

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