"Illegal Art" on the Fringes of Intellectual Property

 
When Utah artist Tom Forsythe took this photograph as part of a series of critical fine-art Barbie photos, Mattel got pissed.  Then, Tom got even.   National Barbie-in-a-Blender Day is celebrating his defense of free speech with a Barbie-Art exhibit opening on July 27, 2004. Help celebrate by sending your Barbie-Art creation to FreeCulture.org at blended@barbieinablender.org.  

According to Stanford Law Professsor Lawrence Lessig's work, "Creativity and innovation always builds on the past. The past always tries to control the creativity that builds upon it. Free societies enable the future by limiting this power of the past. Ours is less and less a free society."

But does limiting this power of the past discourage us from creating the future? Perhaps ours is actually a more and more creative society. 

Help Tom Forsythe create the future by purchasing selections from his Food Chain Barbie series here.  For more "art and ideas on the legal fringes of intellectual property," check out Illegal Art and Illegal Art.