Journal 6

In “Arola and Arola an Ethics of Assemblage,” the idea of “bare repetition” is introduced. This notion, created by Deleuze, is the idea that repetition is governed by nostalgia. An example that is given relates to someone performing an exact dance from his or her ancestors in order to honor a tradition. An ethical assemblage, on the other hand, changes the original piece while still crediting the original work. In the article, ethical assemblage is considered creative repetition because it expands on the original assemblage.

An example of a “bare repetition” assemblage is anything that is used again but not changed at all, such as a traditional song or prayers. When I was growing up I would go to Sunday school at temple, and there I would learn how to read or recite numerous songs and prayers. My teachers would tell us that these were the exact same prayers that our parents, grandparents, and so on have read. This is an example of an assemblage, because we are using the prayer in a different time in a place but the content of the prayer hasn’t been changed at all.

An example of an ethical repetition could be anything that has circulated through out the media and has changed the original content. When you share a post on Facebook, but add your own caption to the post, that’s an example of creative assemblage because you’re adding a new meaning to the post, but the original content is still there.

We should definitely still take into consideration potentially hurtful assemblages and analyze them the same way we would analyze safe ones. Although these assemblages will do more good than bad, by reviewing them we can still learn a lot from their essence. I don’t personally think Fair Use does anything to ensure that assemblages do more than create bare repetition.

Circulation can definitely affect assemblage’s ethical status. Every time something is circulated people have the ability to create their own assemblage out of that work. This can possibly diminish the author’s work or put them on a pedestal, it really depends on how the work is being circulated.