Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Remix exchange


I posted a while back about potentialities for collaboration, and my fixation on the concept of the remix. As a longtime DJ and aficionado of electronic music, I'd like you to humour me on an idea which I'll call the 'remix exchange'. Basically, you take one of my poems and 'remix' it, and I'll do the same to one of yours. Sound like fun?

A remix in this context could entail anything from a gentle tweak/edit, to a fullblown overhaul, where the results bear little or no resemblance to the 'original
mix'. Which elements of the original you use, and which new elements you introduce would be entirely up to you. Make it your own. Make it different. Make it danceable... or not.

Remixers can have free reign to choose from any of the poems available on this blog (including the 'found poems', which of course weren't written by me, but are words taken out of their original context and labeled poems). Be warned: you'll come across some scary monsters the further back through the blog archives you go. And I wouldn't necessarily expect the same free reign in return - naturally, you could nominate the poem(s) you're willing to have remixed. As a starting point, maybe you have something that's been gathering dust on your cutting room floor, or some abandoned poem that's left you at a loss? And by the way, of course the right to publish the remix would reside with you (I wouldn't want your name to be associated with something you didn't like).


And, what the hell, let's open this up to artists other than poets too: prose writers, musicians, visual artists, spoken word performers who shudder at the word 'poetry'... Whatever your chosen artistic platform(s), I'd love for us to have a crack at reworking each other's experiments, incorporating the source material as we see fit.

So, hit me up with a comment or an email if you're up for it...



10 comments:

  1. I am up for it. Can we do it the first week of December? That's when I get back from a trip.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great!

    First week of December is good for me. :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the idea of literary remixing. It just makes perfect sense - perhaps, like you, it's memories of hearing my favourite tracks remixed by new artists at various points that triggers my enthusiasm.

    Did you know CC Australia are currently running a 'Remix My Lit' competition?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Also, Pool on the abc site is doing interesting remixing/collaborative-type stuff.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hehe, I found out about Remix My Lit a couple of days after making this post. Unfortunately it looks like the submission date has passed, but it's great to see something like that happening, right at the forefront.

    Pool is kinda cool, and now bookmarked.

    Thanks! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Also, anyone interested to partake in the remix exchange might like to consider this as a stimulus / conduit for the remix (I know I'd be up for it):

    http://qarrtsiluni.com/2008/12/01/call-for-submissions-mutating-the-signature/

    ReplyDelete
  7. Hi. would you consider recording some of your poems for airplay on my radio program Wordsalad?
    www.wordsalad.wordpress.com
    I'm always looking for new voices.
    I can use CDs or mp3s.
    Paul Baker

    ReplyDelete
  8. Hi Paul, thanks for visiting. I had a listen to the latest Wordsalad and loved the show. So sure, I'd be interested. I'll get in touch. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. This sounds like great fun. I'm really busy with grading papers etc. right now, but when I have some time I'd like to exhume one of your scary monsters and remix it. I could either send you the remix or post it on one of my blogs. And then--only if you want to, of course, and if you don't have too many requests--you could go to my blogs and fuck with any piece of writing by me you want. Sound good?

    ReplyDelete
  10. Sounds great, David.

    I'm pretty busy until Christmas myself.

    Feel free to post your (eventual) remix on your blog if that works for you.

    And yeah, I mean what I say about the scary monsters...!

    ReplyDelete