Jem's Remixed Dreams
Illustrator Jem Yoshioka entered the Mix and Mash competition last year to experiment with creative commons content and create a dialogue around it through remixing. The result was her Supreme Remix winning work inspired by the Katherine Mansfield poem An Opal Dream Cave.
“The imagery and imagination in her work is so tangible and visual that it flowed very naturally into comic form.”
As the 2011 Mix and Mash competition gets underway, Jem shares her experience of using and sharing creative work and offers some tips for this year's entrants.
The competition runs for six weeks and closes on September 15.
Tell us a bit about your background and creative practice.
I began drawing when I was very small and never stopped. An interest in the Web in the early 2000’s led me to discover digital illustration methods and communities of illustrators creating original characters and story worlds, which really inspired me in my own work. I studied Computer Graphic Design, but was pulled back into illustration, stories and comics after graduation and have been illustrating both freelance and for my own projects ever since.
Prior to entering Mix and Mash last year, what was your experience with remixing and creative commons (CC)? Why was it of interest, what challenges did you face?
I hadn’t worked too much with creative commons personally. I liked the idea that creative commons could give more freedom to a work and create a dialogue around it through remixing. The biggest challenge I faced was a personal one of overcoming the idea of needing complete ownership of my work. However I now have come to believe that by releasing my illustrations under creative commons there is potential for them to become a part of a bigger conversation.
Why did you enter Mix and Mash NZ?
I attended the Webstock Mini that launched Mix and Mash, and was incredibly inspired by the presentations and projects shared during the evening. The remix category seemed like a natural fit for me because I was interested in working with creative commons and out of license materials. Entering Mix and Mash provided the perfect excuse to finally have a proper experiment with how I could use creative commons content.
What was the inspiration for your 2010 Mix and Mash winning entry?
I knew I wanted to do a short comic, but the inspiration hit when I first began looking through Katherine Mansfield’s work for a suitable poem. The imagery and imagination in her work is so tangible and visual that it flowed very naturally into comic form.
What content did you select for your remix? Tell us a bit about your final work.
A Katherine Mansfield Poem The Opal Dream Cave and images from The National Library of New Zealand’s The Commons Flickr Stream, mixed in with my own illustrations and a scan of my own hand. It ended up coming together almost effortlessly, and it was one of those rare projects where how it ended up looking was incredibly close to how it looked in my head.
What challenges or learning curves did you face during the process?
The most difficult part was finding the original content to base my work on. Originally I was considering using a newspaper article, but that proved to be incredibly difficult to source. Not only because there was far too much to sort through, but also because the more interesting stories and articles were either from the USA or England. I knew I wanted to use something based in New Zealand, so this ended up being a bit of a dead end for me.
At that point my brain sparked that perhaps Katherine Mansfield’s work might be royalty free by now. Once I discovered it was all specially licensed under creative commons I knew I’d found my story.
What were the highlights?
The highlight is most definitely getting to familiarise myself with Katherine Mansfield’s work. I wasn’t too familiar with her writing before and so this was a chance to properly get to know her and her work. Knowing I was wanting to make illustrations for it instantly changed the flavour of it for me, and I now have vivid images associated with many of her poems, not just The Opal Dream Cave.
Do you have any tips for people entering this year?
Remixing is all about bringing something new to the work. It’s got to go beyond combining existing media, you have to bring your own elements into it. If you do that you’re onto a good thing. I think that’s what makes a really good remix.
Which CC license did you use for your entry and why?
It’s licensed CC-BY-SA, because that’s how Katherine Mansfield’s work is licensed. This has now become my preferred license, too. I like this license because it gives a lot of freedom to people who want to remix the work. They can even use my work commercially without needing to ask me. The two restrictions of the license are that any of my work must be attributed to me, and that any new work must also be ShareAlike.
Has anyone used or remixed your work since licensing it under CC?
Not that I’m aware of, but if anyone does I’d love to see what they make!
How has your understanding of remixing and creative commons evolved after Mix and Mash?
It’s definitely opened my eyes as to what’s possible with creative commons licensing. It’s also helped me to come to new ideas about the ownership of intellectual property. These are things I have been thinking about for a couple of years, but Mix and Mash definitely helped me to stop thinking and start doing. I have recently released my entire Flickr stream to CC-BY-SA, which is where I post most of my illustration work as well as my sketches, process, and photos. Anything from there is now available to be remixed any way people choose.
Have you had conversations with others about it? What, in your world, do you think is the general perception of remixing – challenges and opportunities?
I think people are intrigued by the idea of it, but because not much is available in the creative commons pool currently, there can be a bit of a turnoff when the kind of content you want to remix is either not there or not licensed in a way you can use it. Some artists I have spoken to find it hard to understand why I wouldn’t want to protect my work with stricter licensing. I think that’s a common fear among artists wanting to protect their creations. I hope that by releasing my work I can show by example that it’s a positive thing.
What do you envisage the future of content creation and remixing will look like?
I’d like to see libraries and museums to release many more digital copies of works to The Commons. The old concept of needing to hide works away to preserve them doesn’t work with digital copies. We can’t get a digital copy all smudged with fingerprints, for starters. I believe that these images now belong to everyone, and we all have a right to them, and should be able to access and use them.
What are some of your current and future projects?
I’m currently publishing my original comic The Otherwalls. It’s set in a world made of abandoned ideas. The characters who find themselves there must find a way to survive in this communal creative wastepaper bin. Some of the characters have been donated to me by friends and readers. The comic is licensed CC-BY-SA and can be read online.
I’m planning on doing more remixing and collaboration work with Collective Noun, the transmedia design studio I am involved with.
What’s your big idea for 2012?
I’d love to travel and collaborate with many more people from around the world.
Further Information:
Jem Yoshioka is an Illustrator and all-round nice gal living in Wellington, New Zealand. She creates crafty and illustrative things and is looking to launch a brand to tie all of her crazy art together in the near future. She works in many different media, including digital illustration, watercolour and ink work, and expanding into soft textiles like crochet. She considers herself a storyteller and works with the group Collective Noun creating transmedia story experiences. She has been published in Loop Magazine, Tearaway, World Sweet World, and worked with local musicians to create band posters and merchandise. She works on her original comic The Otherwalls in spare and stolen time.
Jem is a New Zealander with Japanese heritage. She grew up in Napier and has been drawing since the age of three. She studied Computer Graphic Design at Whanganui School of Design, but has gravitated back towards illustration.
You can find her online, on twitter, and on facebook.
Supreme Remix 2010 details
View the final work An Opal Dream Cave [PDF] an illustration of the Katherine Mansfield poem of the same name, with drawings inspired by three images from the National Library’s photographs available on Flickr Commons.
1. Grotto in an iceberg, photographed during the British Antarctic Expedition of 1911-1913, 5 Jan 1911
2. Scene at Waiwhetu, Lower Hutt, with weathered tree stump and Willcox's flour mill, ca 1885
3. Swimmers during learn to swim week, at a suburban swimming pool, probably Wellington region, ca 1939
View all 2010 winners.
