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COMMONS MAGAZINE

Arts and Culture

Arts and Culture highlights creative work in all mediums and disciplines with a special emphasis on artists, writers, performers, and collectives who blur the lines between art-making, personal activism, and community involvement. As they employ new artistic strategies, contemporary creatives continue to expand the role of arts and culture in public life. This section will feature intriguing and often ground-breaking work and explore how it might illuminate the challenges and opportunities we face as we move toward a commons-based world.

August 25, 2005

Are Remixes Novelties or a Durable Genre?

Bottom-up culture emphasizes participation over ownership. Is it a novelty or a durable genre?
August 19, 2005

Is the Fashion Commons at Risk?

No one owns the idea for the little black dress or pinstriped suit. Fashion is a commons. But high-end designers now want to claim copyright on their clothes.
August 16, 2005

Copyrighting Corpses

Copyright issues take on a ghoulish tone.
August 12, 2005

Stuff the Suits

Do intellectual property restrictions really spur creativity, or just the opposite? Joni Mitchell speaks out.
August 12, 2005

The Self-Reinforcing Spiral of Commercialism

The spiral of commercialism threatens to overwhelm artistic creativity in all corners of society.
August 3, 2005

Designer Pigs

Monsanto seeks a patent for the "whole hog."
July 27, 2005

The Genius of Free Governments

Thomas Jefferson thought a limit on monopolies should be added to the Bill of Rights.
July 24, 2005

A Privilege or a Right?

On the origins of copyright law in the 17th Century.
July 22, 2005

Newton, Lord Camden, and "Common Things"

Ideas Stand on the Shoulders of Giants