Assemblage in our Community

Good morning everyone,

Today I would like to discuss assemblages in our community. First, I will introduce the concepts of bare repetition versus ethical assemblage. Bare repetition can be thought of as an exact replica of an artifact (whether that be a song, event, or something else) that is being repeated currently. Ethical assemblage is the re-use of existing materials in order to create a new artifact that is composed of the old and the new, but that is done in a way that is respectful when considering audiences that may identify with the assemblage. In our community, an example of bare repetition could be holding one’s hand up in court when swearing that everything said will be true. This is repeated in exactly the same way as it was originally, long ago. An example of ethical assemblage could be a law firm making a remix of an older, potentially controversial, song, substituting the original lyrics with their own in order to market and attract clients. This is an assemblage composed of original background music and new improvised lyrics. These examples contribute differently to the audience because holding one’s hand up is so normalized that not many people think much of it. In another way, the ethical assemblage of a remix is much more unique and rare in our community. Because of this, people will remember the law firm that marketed through an assemblage. We should respond to potentially harmful assemblages by understanding the history of the assemblage’s parts and how these parts were originally intended to be interpreted. I believe Fair Use allows people to be creative when utilizing re-used materials. By giving statements of the materials’ originality and ownership, the person re-using has the freedom to create something new with the aide of the existing material. Design affects an assemblage’s status as ethical or unethical because design heavily influences how an artifact is interpreted entirely. Design that is done well can give the effect of respectful assemblage, while poor design can give the effect of carelessness in the assemblage. Circulation very heavily influences an assemblage’s ethical status because if it is circulated to the point that it reaches a particular audience, this audience may identify a certain way with the assemblage and perceive it in a way where it becomes an ethical subject. Because of this identification, the assemblage becomes ethical particularly to that audience.