Journal 6

Journal 6

An Ethics of Assemblage

When I think of ‘bare repetition’ I think of monkey see, monkey do. The concept behind ‘bare repetition’ is when something ethical to a culture is copied and used. There isn’t necessarily an intended purpose behind its usage. An example of Arola and Arola’s bare repetition is when a dancer is learning a tribal dance to be performed. The dancer is copying each step exactly from the instructor. There is a direct repetition of the dance moves without any changes. An ethical assemblage respectfully incorporates aspects from a different culture and is used to appeal to a different audience. An example of an ethical assemblage is Kanye West song “Ultralight beam”. In this song he adds snippets of religious song and mixes his own lyrics while still remaining respectful of religion.

We are surrounded with assemblages and it’s important to keep a look out for potentially harmful assemblages. I think to reduce harmful assemblages, we should be mindful when we are composing to make sure we don’t disrespect cultures and/or our audience. 

Circulation is a major component in assemblages. In order for an assemblage to be successful, it needs to be able to reach an audience. Proper circulation allows for an assemblage to be interacted with. Circulation also gives the assemblage an opportunity to be assembled into other works.

Fair use allows for an assemblage to be more than bare repetition because it needs to be used for specific purposes like adding to it, taking away from it, developing it more, etc.