(art)iculation is…

an exploration in the visual medium.

Hi, welcome to my site. My name is Margaux. As someone interested in all things visual arts, this blog is an amalgamation of film, photography, fashion, and culture, as well as my own personal musings. I’m an art school student at Mason Gross School of the Arts as a Filmmaking major. This means more than just watching films- my coursework allows me to learn the ins and outs of the creative process of production. This includes editing, cinematography, writing, directing, soundwork, color correction, and perhaps most influential, the brainstorming process that allows me to really find myself as a filmmaker. When I’m not out shooting, you can often find me watching an experimental art film or reading an essay, gathering up my influences for my next creative venture. Of course, my influences are much more far reaching than just other filmmakers- I’m heavily influenced by art, be it modern or historical, as well as writing, and also contemporary photographers.

This site is meant to spread the word about different photographers, filmmakers, visual artists, and creative individuals who have become influences to my own work. I’ll also be including examples of my own work, and describing my creative process that eventually yields a finished project. Get ready for a step by step process that shows how my art comes to life! 

The music I listen to also heavily influences my artwork. I find myself basing my own films upon a specific playlist, track, or ambient tone. In order to fully cite all my influences, I’ll be including embedded playlists and tracks so that you can get the full picture of how I create my art.

My intended audience for this blog is anyone who shares my interest in art and wants to discover new and exciting examples of all sorts of visual art. 

how collaboration fuels this medium.

“How Creativity is Being Strangled by the Law” by Lawrence Lessig is an article that poses the challenges faced under modern Copyright laws and sticky concerns regarding fair use and what really constitutes as a “copy.” This is an issue near and dear to my heart as a filmmaker. Lessig considers the reproduction of image and video, this “remix,” as “just writing for the twenty first century.” Unfortunately, copyright law has not caught up to the discrepancy that you can cite a written work in an essay, but not quite as easily use a song to accompany your film.

Here is a series of stills from a film I created last year titled “textile residency.” It received a copyright strike on Youtube for the music I chose for the background (Birthday by The Sugarcubes).

Does my use of a song in the background of this film constitute as a copy of the song, even though the song has been situated in an entirely new context? Youtube copyright laws seem to dictate so.

Lessig would argue against this, that a “remix,” a digital synthesis, merely encourages creativity.

Filmmakers largely rely on the resources of others to aid their projects along. This collaboration can be a beautiful thing, except when it is bogged down by outdated copyright regulations that don’t take into consideration the digital age, and the context of modern creativity.

“How Creativity Is Being Strangled By The Law.” Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy, by Lawrence Lessig, Penguin Books, 2009, pp. 155–168.