Art is a cultural resource. Because it is not always tangible or measurable, artists have been snuffed and sent to the fringes to chat amongst themselves while the rest of the world continues cranking out digit after digit, document after document. We pour ourselves into shaping every piece we create, while the office-dwellers pour themselves into the mould of their desk chairs and boxy houses. They dip their ringed toes into our pool of sweat and tears when they feel like they need a break. A song here, an exhibit there: little cultural nuggets in their days...

And then came Napster. Given a negative connotation with even its name, piracy quickly became the black hole enticing those craving culture in deeper and deeper until their hard-drives lulled their stressed minds to sleep. When peer-to-peer file sharing became feasible to the masses, instead of celebrating their radical exposure increase, artists sulked and mourned their chequing accounts. Piracy was and is still paving the way in forcing art out of the confines of capitalism and allowing for free distribution. If one is creating art for the right reason — that is, to portray a message to a susceptible audience — then they should be thrilled that it is so much easier now to reach people, not pouting about the pay cut.

People crave truth. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange can attest to this. When he got his hands on some classified documents from the United States government and published them for anyone to see, the whole Western media structure imploded. On sharing devices and systems (the Internet, cellphones, etc.), governments and large companies like Facebook, the CIA and Google can see nearly anything about you they'd like from which websites you frequent to the texts you send. These major companies, when incorporated, are considered under law to be an ‘individual' and are given the same rights as us. Assange and censorship activists like Chelsea (Bradley) Manning and Edward Snowden demand that we, the civilians, should have access to information about those companies just as they do of us. Similarly, file-sharing platforms like Pirate Bay and IsoHunt allow us to access free music, and online galleries like Behance allow people to post and view visual art free of charge. Since crawling back from the fringes, artists have shown that there is an audience eager to listen, and it's this new era of easily accessible information and viral media campaigns that are proving us right.

File-sharing spreading like wildfire is lighting a flame under our asses to live the life many artists preach. It has always been a common theme in art to oppose the status quo and the existing societal structure because of the lifestyle's limitations. Artists are being given the opportunity to spread their message and to walk the walk and lead the way. No longer do we have to depend on getting a record deal to be heard, to be accepted into an exhibit to be seen, or published in a book to be read. These are the days of growing freedom of hearing and being heard. As it should be.

Information should be free, whether it is a document or a song. Everybody deserves to view historical and contemporary art because it is a valuable learning resource and insight into our potent culture.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.