delanceyplace.com 08/15/05 - sampling

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In today's excerpt - the editors of Wired Magazine illustrate the cultural tidal wave of sampling, taking snippets of the past or present to create a 'collage' which becomes in effect a new—and original—present or future. It some respects, this is an inevitable outgrowth of the sheer volume of cultural materials which is exponentially greater than in the past, even on a per capita basis. In other respects, it is a reflection of immediate electronic retrievability and availability of this material. In a final respect, it reflects the dramatically heightened consumer appetite for change, and the resultingly increased perishability of everything new:

"Have you noticed? Everywhere you look, pop culture has been digitized, resequenced and reassembled. Remixed. It started in music with hip hop samples and extended dance versions. It moved to movies, with director's cuts and Tarantino-style swipes from other films. Now it's spread to TV, games, music videos—even cars and fashion. From Kill Bill to Gorillaz, from custom Nikes to Pimp My Ride, this is the age of remix.

" 'I used to go to Foot Locker to buy shoes,' Peter Kim says, 'But whenever I'd see a new pair there'd be something I wanted to change.'  So the graphic designer known to fashion mavens as Methamphibian did a bit of sole searching: He began crossfading classic Nike designs with fabric appliques, custom paints and even pieces of other shoes. His tweaked sneaks have become streetwear hits; collectors of urban cool pay as much as $1,250 on eBay to step into a pair of limited-edition Meths."