an open letter to a few curators and many journalists
regarding the fundamental dilemma of cultural dignity
and common misunderstandings.

--
much has been said about authorship, copyrights and
fair use... and you should have internalized an egalitarian
idea of first-order importance, namely, the idea of the equal
dignity of human beings. to that defense we now turn.

in terms of the distinctive human capacity for choice,
all those who pass a basic line of competency share the
status of a responsible being (even if some are more
competent than others). here we are aligning ourselves with
a long-standing tradition in moral philosophy:
failing to respect dignity requires commentary !

historically, copying the masters was considered to be a part
of the painter’s training, not the final product.
today, when a painter copies an illustrator it’s called fine art.
when musicians remake an old hit, it’s called a cover version.
when an museum curator bases an exhibition on the work
of an internet publication, it's called profound analysis.
we detest the arrogant notion that research work just happens
to exist and is therefore is devoid of creativity or intellectual
process. there are many things that concern us about 'borrowing',
but nothing disturbs us more than when a mainstream curator
(of a powerful institution and with all of the resources at their
disposal) lifts from a free independent resource.

there have been many episodes of 'borrowing' from designboom,
during our seven years of being online and just recently some
of the curators of a current museum exhibition seem to have based
their work on course material from one of our online education
programs 'design-aerobics'. numerous professional designers
participate in these educational sessions, but also journalists, curators,
marketing managers, university professors, and of course ... students.
the course we are particularily talking about was available for
participants from march until may 2005.

to designboom it is obvious that one of the curators (or their friends
- as participation can be anonymous) must have participated in the
theme related course and enjoyed the content.
our lessons have certainly been transformed, images have
been exchanged, but the structure, the sub-themes,
the historical outline and the conclusions ... are the same.
(we only saw the related website, we have not seen the
actual exhibition nor the accompaning catalogue yet,
and we're curious to see if there is any detail on show,
that has not been 'discussed' previously by designboom.)

the history of the theme of this exhibition is essentially european,
the designboom researchers speak french, german, italian,
we have studied in latin and antique greek... how many original
historic texts are the curators able to read?
their exercise relies upon the two-tier system that holds certain
works as raw material, that is there to be freelyappropriated.
the exhibition sets the 'discussed' facts in larger type,
give them a new title, create something on a completely different
'scale’ and illustrates the content with very valuable and noteworthy
artifacts. in other words, ‘size matters’.
however making something bigger isn’t quite the same as making
it your own.

designboom is not mentioned in any way, though the curators
credited a variety of other less relevant sources.
what they are saying essentially is that, while designboom's work
is good enough to use, we are not credible enough to cite.
this displays a deep lack of respect for the people involved.
the work of independent internet resources, has been a huge
influence on our culture for years -
who else will have wait to see their ‘greatest hits’ recycled
(on a larger scale and in a museum context) before the
establishment sits up and takes notice?

culture is not easily defined, nor is there a consensus
among scholars and philosophers (nor, most likely, among
the rest of us) as to what exactly the concept should include.
for sure it should help us to work for the social betterment of all
and no culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive.
during the current period of cultural hegemony of institutions
and associations, designboom is actively working on the
front lines of expanding consciousness by distributing
(design-) knowledge to people, with no social, economic
and regional distinctions. information that gives historic
insight and acts as a stimulus to creativity.

we have the perception that culture is constantly being
negotiated, and a better understanding of how cultural
systems are shaped, reproduced and changed gives you
more power to participate in that process of negotiation.
that's what this open letter is about.

--
birgit lohmann, editor-in-chief of designboom,
may, 2006

P.S.
this is the part of the open letter dedicated to many journalists:
thank you for your continued interest in designboom.
however, please stop to download our content and images
for your commercial use (without previous authorization).
please do not request high-res pictures from us,
if you intend to use them without any credit line.