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Tuesday, August 19, 2003
Artists Rail Against Commercialism
A group of experimental audio artists who call themselves Snuggles has collaborated over the Internet to compile Free Speech for Sale, an audio collage art-response to what they call an "oversaturation of corporate advertising within the mass media."
Copies of the CD are available from www.freespeechforsale.com. All costs for production, replication and shipping were paid for by the artists involved.
In a press release posted at the Web site, operated out of Lakewood, Ohio, officials lament the commercialization of art and music while advocating turning the tables on advertisers.
"From Andy Warhol's soup cans to sampling sound bites, there has been a long tradition of artwork that comments on advertising," the statement reads. "Today, in these post-Napster days of co-branding, copy-protected CDs and cola advertising in schools, every music venue, sporting event, instant replay, pop-up window and stock tip has been renamed to bear its corporate sponsor's logo more prominently.
"So it should come as no surprise that there is a growing art movement inspired to comment on advertising's looming presence within our lives, even while the legitimate outlets for expressing such ideas are quickly being taken away from them."
The Free Speech for Sale CD consists of 33 tracks that re-edit and re-contextualize sampled speech and background music previously featured in radio and television advertising campaigns. The artists recycled and reworked their selected materials to convey new messages that often detract from the original product pitches to offer new insight.
For more information on the Free Speech for Sale project, visit the Web site or call 1-216-228-1248.
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