Remix

Back in the mid-nineties my social circle included artists like DJ Spooky (Paul D. Miller), DJ Olive (Gregor Asch), Vinnie Ray (with whom I founded antenna tool & die co.) and others that were then (and are still today) at the forefront of what's known now as our "remix culture".  Click here for a great article by William Gibson in the latest Wired magazine.  In looking back I can't help but think that the spirit or impulse that gave birth to this movement has the same basic root as the one that is driving the latest DIY/hacker/maker (to use Tim O'Reilly's term) emergence.  In essence, it's the growing feeling that the products and services that are given to us by the powers that be are not good enough anymore.  We need to make them our own.  We need to personalize them.  If you use your imagination, is there anything made today that will not be touched (if not completely altered) by this trend?  I really doubt it.