English version Pirate Conference 2010This is a featured page

(Dutch version of this text can be found here)

The Incubate Pirate Conference will take place on September 17, 2010. It's a day on Piracy in the Arts in Midi Theatre, Tilburg. The Pirate Conference offers reflection on the comprehensive piracy-program of Incubate Festival and on the value of creation in society. Incubate Festival is about artistic progress, that's why the artist also takes a central role in this part of the program. A lot of the time, the discussion on Piracy evolves around the economic and legal position of the consumer and producer. This conference is about creation itself though. What do artists think about the current state of issues? How can they best react to the current operation of copyright? What strategies, tactics and interventions can be used? How do we shape creativity and innovation as a society, and what could businesses learn from these tactics?
"On the one hand information wants to be expensive, because it's so valuable. The right information in the right place just changes your life. On the other hand, information wants to be free, because the cost of getting it out is getting lower and lower all the time. So you have these two fighting against each other." - Stewart Brand

Last year, we attracted Andrew Keen as central speaker of the Incubate Innovation Lecture because he could also offer a perspective from outside the field of Arts. This year, we chose Matt Mason as keynote speaker. Like in his book, The Pirate's Dilemma, Mason has an overview about different subcultures that have brought on the most innovative ideas in history. These ideas often have been adopted by businesses later on. The underground scenes that Mason describes often swam against the current or even acted illegally, but always because they strongly believed that the legal environment didn't match reality. They often showed that business sectors could (and should) be developed further, beyond other people's vision. These pirates forced businesses to a difficult decision: ignoring new developments, or competing with the pirates.


Program Incubate Pirate Conference:


The Pirate's Dilemma1) Matt Mason Keynote Speech & Panel
Matt Mason is the bestselling author of The Pirate’s Dilemma, the first book in the history of the world to hit the number one spot on Amazon’s economics/free enterprise bestseller list, and the rap bestseller list, at the same time. It has since been published in ten countries and counting. He was recently voted Pirate of the Year by BusinessWeek. Mason began his career as a pirate radio and club DJ in London, going on to become founding Editor-in-Chief of the seminal magazine RWD. He has written and produced TV series, comic strips, viral videos and records. His journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The Independent, The Observer Music Monthly, Dazed & Confused, VICE and other publications in more than 20 countries. He has spoken on the subjects covered in the book all over the world.

The Pirate’s Dilemma tells the story of how youth culture drives innovation and is changing the way the world works. It offers understanding and insight for a time when piracy is just another business model, the remix is our most powerful marketing tool and anyone with a computer is capable of reaching more people than a multi-national corporation. Ideas that started within punk, disco, hip-hop, rave, graffiti and gaming have been combined with new technologies and taken to new heights by the generations that grew up under their influence. With a cast of characters that includes such icons as The Ramones, Andy Warhol, Russell Simmons and 50 Cent, The Pirate’s Dilemma uncovers, for the first time, the trends that transformed underground scenes into burgeoning global industries and movements, ultimately changing life as we know it, unravelling some of our most basic assumptions about business, society and our collective future.

As a result people, companies and organizations are now struggling with a new dilemma in increasing numbers. As piracy continues to change the way we all use information, how should we respond? Do we fight pirates, or do we learn from them? Should piracy be treated as a problem, or a solution? To compete or not to compete - that is the question – that is the Pirate’s Dilemma, perhaps one of the most important economic and cultural conundrums of the 21st Century. In his keynote, Mason will talk about the possibilities that Piracy offers for artists. How can they gain profit from the strategies, tactics and interventions that surround piracy? After his keynote, a panel consisting of artists, Creative Commons and Pictoright will respond to this speech. Matt Mason will also take his seat in the panel.


2) Rob Scholte Lecture
Rob ScholteRob Scholte is one of the most famous Dutch painters at the moment. He studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie from 1977 to 1982. After that, he took part in (amongst others) the W139 collective, where he debuted, together with Sandra Derks, with the masterpiece Rom 87: a series of freely painted variations on a children's colouring book. Later on, he will replace this style of painting with minimal painted works that he begins exposing in The Living Room in 1984. Others of his works have been shown at Documenta, and in 1990 he was invited to arrange the Dutch pavilion of the La Biennale di Venezia.

Rob Scholte's works are controversial. Is it because he mainly uses existing images? Can he just do so? Is Rob Scholte only after shocked spectators? Within a short time, Scholte learned all about the business of Arts and gained the respect of galleries, art-dealers, museum directors, critics and media. He also established a respectful market position and has since managed to maintain it. Scholte will focus on the issues surrounding copyright from his view within the visual arts, where styles like appropriation art and pop art are directly linked to this subject. Placing existing images in a new context is after all an often-used technique in this field. Scholte will give a lecture on meaning of piracy within his works and within the visual arts in general.


3) Xavier Le Roy Invites Mårten Spångberg
Who is the author of a performance or work, and what is the role of the observer? What is more important: the artist/author's wish or the public importance of free culture? Piracy and copyright topics are also prominent and important topics in the world of dance.

Xavier Le Roy & Marten SpangbergXavier Le Roy holds a doctorate in molecular biology from the University of Montpellier, France, and has worked as a dancer and choreographer since 1991. From 1997 to 2003, he was artist-in-residence at the Podewil in Berlin. In 2007-2008 he was “Associated Artist” at Centre Chorégraphique National de Montpellier, France. In 2010 Le Roy is an Artist in Residence fellow at the MIT Program in Art Culture and Technology (Cambridge, MA). Through his solo works such as Self Unfinished (1998) and Product of Circumstances (1999), he has opened new perspectives for dance and his individual approach has radicalized academic discourse about the body and choreographic art. His latest works, such as the solos Le Sacre du Printemps (2007) and Product of Other Circumstances (2009), as well as the group piece Floor Pieces explore more explicitly diverse mode of relationships between spectators and performers.

Xavier also created and was involved in several works that are linked to recreation, copyright, authorship and piracy, such as: Yvonne Rainer's "Continuous Project-Altered Daily" (1970) recreation with the Quatuor Albrecht Knust in 1996, "Xavier Le Roy" (2000) from Jérome Bel, "Giszelle" (2001), "Untitled" (2005) and "Le Sacre du Printemps" (2007).

Xavier Le Roy was given carte blanche to invite somebody to discuss copyright from the perspective of performance arts, and invited Mårten Spångberg as discussion partner. How to deal with re-usage, re-interpretation and re-enactment? Is it an infraction of copyrights, or should it also be taken as a compliment and a possibility to find a new audience for a work? Mårten Spångberg (1968) lives and works in Stockholm as essayist, performance critic, dramaturg and choreographer. His interests concern choreography in an expanded field, something that he has approached through experimental practices and creative process in multiplicity of formats and expressions. He published in several magazines such as ArtGenda Magazine, Art Press, A-Prior, Endurance Magazine, Merge, and MusikDramatik.


4) Generation Bass Forum
Generation BassGeneration Bass was initiated last year by Incubate when a gap was noticed within the development of world dance music in Europe and more specific in The Netherlands. The differences between the developments of this new scene and the 'established' world music are pretty big and definitely deserve attention. An example? Moroccan pop mixed with Latin-American rap that a dj from New York discovered on an Angolan blog en spins at a festival in Holland. At the same time, people in the Brazilian favela are also dancing to the song in the local 'Baile funk' version.

With the founding of the Generation Bass blog (http://generationbass.com), a gap was filled by offering a complete overview of the developments within non-Western dance, instead of just one specific genre or style. By making music directly available for download, the visitor immediately hears experiences the context of what he is reading. The music is also being offered to remix and other revisions. With this formula, the response has been overwhelming. Other blogs that act as gatekeepers in global trends are kudurofiles.podomatic.com (by dj Toke, a radio producer from Angola), Negrophonic (by dj Rupture), Afroasiasound (dj Zhao), Mad Decent (Diplo and Paul Devro) and Ghetto Bassquake (Vamanos and Chief Boima). These blogs are being maintained by dj's keeping up with global developments and sharing and reflecting on them. They also use these influences in their dj-sets and are feeding a new audience this way.

The meetings of these blogs and their moderators have always been virtual up to now. We want to bring these people together at one table though, to stimulate this scene and to make it insightful for a wider audience. During the Generation Bass forum, these people meet in real life and exchange ideas and thoughts on the contents on the blogs, the developments of world dance music and the way the subject of copyright within these developments. A forum with five quests will be set up: dj Umb (Generation Bass), dj /rupture (Negrophonic), Daniel Haaksman (Man Recordings) and dj-team Globalibre. The panel will be moderated by Tony Herrington of Wire, one of the most important magazines on contemporary music.


The Bomb Squad5) The Bomb Squad deconstructs
The Bomb Squad is an American hip hop production team, known for their pioneering work with Public Enemy. The Bomb Squad are noted for their dense, distinct, innovative production style, often utilizing dozens of samples on just one track. They are also known for their ability to incorporate harsh, unmelodic sounds and samples into their songs, generally enhancing them. They also worked with bands and acts like Ice Cube, Run DMC, Manic Street Preachers and Young Black Teenagers.

During the Pirate Conference, this production team will present their working method: productions they made are deconstructed tot their bare source, creating the imago on how they used sampling to create a new work and a new context. Are The Bomb Squad pirates? Are they only after other people's works for their own gain, or are they fighting for free culture to stimulate the innovative character of the Arts? In this panel, the members of The Bomb Squad will explain their view on the current state of copyright. What advices do they have for other musicians and producers? En what do they expect of the future?


6) Piracy Debate Contest
The debate contest is all about the pros and cons of the current system of copyright. Professionals will coach students of Fontys International Event Music & Entertainment Studies and the Academy of Pop Culture Leeuwarden. The students will get a lecture on the topics of piracy, where they will investigate the most desirable system for the operation of copyright within the near future.

In advance to the debate contest, teachers and coaches will train the students to convince their opponents. By bringing the students in contact with this subject, they are forced to study the available information. This commitment leads to discussion amongst the students, and will make them understand the current topics and dilemma's better.


7) Arrrr... The Hearty Pirate Breakfast
Even without a parrot on your shoulder and an eyepatch you're welcome at the Hearty Pirate Breakfast, an informal way of getting to know each other. The breakfast will be hosted by the Dutch Pirate Party and of course, there will be room to get meet other people and discuss the Pirate Conference in advance.


8) Stands Creative Commons, Bits of Freedom, Pictoright, Buma/Stemra and the Pirate Party
Incubate wants to invite organisations that are in some way related to the subjects of copyright the opportunity to represent themselves on this day. Different artists and interested persons are gathered on this day, after all. The companies that will be invited are: Creative Commons, Bits of Freedom (a civil rights party for privacy on the internet), Pictoright (the Dutch collecting society for visual artists), Buma/Stemra (the Dutch collecting society for musicians) and the Dutch Pirate Party.



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