Visual Identity Politics and Remix Society
Research:HueyRemixed

Huey Remixed; A research project

Download a free (low-res) pdf of the book here.

Welcome to Huey Remixed; an ongoing research project that investigates how remix strategies are used in design, art and visual culture through the reproductions and appropriations of the iconic image of Huey P. Newton in a Rattan Chair. On this page you can read about the project and a guide to navigate the website.

From Database to Timeline.

This project is rooted in the database of (160+) found footage that we collected throughout many years of visual crate digging. Creating that collection was the motivation for us to dive deeper into the footage itself and into the relationships between the different images. For us, it made sense to organise them first and foremost in chronological order. The Timeline shows how the images follow each other and how they respond to their predecessors. We published this sequence in a book and a movie. Next to that, we made a tourshirt that emphasises the places the image travelled to.

The Chapters.

This project is about understanding remix strategies in design, art and visual culture. So we organised the chapters of this website along the aspects of remix. The Sample shows the raw footage and the criteria for selection. In The Original, we dive into the first appearance of Huey in a Rattan Chair; the conception of the image and the significance it has acquired throughout the years. And we will dissect and explore the visual elements that make this image into an iconic example of revolutionary art. In The Context, we are looking into the situation in which this image was created. We are looking into the history of the Black Panther Party and USA in the late 60s and 70s. Finally, The Remix, is the place of (re-)interpretation and combining the things we found. This works on two levels; we design (mapping, writing, indexing, etc) interpretations or we document interpretations by others (e.g. The Legacy of a Panther).

A Work-in-Progress.

Even though we are excited to share our first results with you, we want to stress that this project is ongoing. As you might have noticed, there are some articles that are ‘Coming Soon’. They are a work-in-progress and will be presented on this site in due time. These conceptual placeholders show the extend of the project. In the future, we will further explore the principles and strategies of remix in art, design and visual culture. We will investigate the role of the original and the copy in remix, the relationship between author and audience, the progression and regression of meaning and the concept of rewriting history through the art of remix.

New Collaborations.

We are looking for partners, kindred spirits and allies to move this project forward: to take it to the stage and to dig deeper into the world of revolutionary art and visual remix strategies. We want to collaborate and interact with artists, designers, activists, and writers on future research activities. We want to take this project to the classroom; to teach and to learn about remix strategies through workshops and lectures. We want to see all the above curated and exhibited in a museum.

 

This project is conceived, collected, organized, edited, written and designed by Mark Mulder at Studio for Visual Pop.Culture.

Mark Mulder (1976) is a graphic designer, design researcher, educator and cultural producer who lives and works in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. He is the founder of the Studio for Visual Pop.Culture.

Studio for Visual Pop.Culture is a design research studio based in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. The studio designs and researches visual identity politics and remix society.

Post-what.com is the online research space of the Studio for Visual Pop.Culture. The objective of this site is to show and share the research-in-progress.

 

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