Original Remix Thesis

COMPILER’S NOTE

This manual is designed to accompany a package in each of the proposed sites throughout the world. To the right is an non-exhaustive diagram of the location of these sites.

Original Remix: Transcendent Disciplines aims to weaponize the disciplinary semantics of several disciplines, subsequently applying skillsets, attitudes, perspectives of said practices to all others. In many ways, this actively targets “professions,” which, although generally validating years of education, hours of effort, and indicating some degree of passion, are largely purveyors of gatekeeping. A wedge is being driven deeper between The “professional” and the “other.”

The “proposal” of this network between Historic Disciplinary Sites is to break down these professional barriers, to rise the tide, and perhaps establish a new median of human capability and information access via semi-physical yet wholly interactive interventions in these spaces. These interventions simultaneously shit on antiquated practices of ostracization and respect boundaries of Historic Preservation.

This Thesis may not be fully experienced through this manual. Please refer to this website for more information:

Throughout this Manual, a series of annotations will be included in these margins. They are intended to notate formal and informal elements. For example, they may be used to cite specific resources, but they may also be used to frankly indicate the author’s thoughts as he was writing or making.

In many ways, this Thesis is an examination of the cognitive idiosyncrasies of an architecture student. It was essential to afford care to the minutia and semantics of doing work

INTRODUCTION

It is difficult to nail down the separation of the field, profession, or practice as distinct from the metaphor of Architecture as art, an art, a social science, a physical science. Those who take ownership of Autonomy of Architecture or the Ego of the Architect may seek a degree of Isolationism - but this is flawed and probably irresponsible.

In An Architecture of Change, Jose Gamez, Susan Rogers, and Bryan Bell warn of the gains architecture made through its postmodern era. While Modernism yielded mostly “unfulfilled promises,” its end caused the profession to lose its “ideological agenda.” As it was replaced by Postmodern thought, the discipline “liberated critical thought from the confines of rationalism while continuing the liberation of architecture from politics.” But Architecture can not be neutral; “a building is never just a building.” According to Gamez and Rogers, “American architectural efforts in the past 50 years have been mostly aesthetic exercises, and if political, only in symbolism.” Despite advances in thought, there is an ambiguity to the efficacy of these symbolic exercises.

Frankly, referencing concepts which transcend our direct “field” is how students and designers learned and are learning to work. This train of thought is as ingrained into curriculum as it is to practice, and it is likely that a derailment of these methods would derail the field.

Architects implicitly codified this ideological synesthesia as integral to the profession. This “studio” will examine this practice via the phrase: “the only original thing is a remix.”

An analysis of A Banquet of the Officers of the St.

by

through various physical (burning, scanning, cutting, etc.) and digital means (overlays, color burning, compositing) reveals, although cryptically, methods to rationalize the framing and composition of the original piece. Analogically, it considers the power dynamics between the individuals in the original painting as a spatial organizer.

Eduardo Villamor, Proto-Speciation 02 Step 02, 2022

George Militia Company in 1616

Frans Hals (right)

Frans Hals, A Banquet of the Officers of the St. George Militia Company in 1616, 1616

CONTENTS

DECALCOMANIA

METAPHOR

PEDAGOGY

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION

CASE STUDY: SAMPLING

site 01: CELSUS

site 02: SEDGWICK

site 03: SHURIJO

LOOKING FORWARD

The contents of this manual are not exhaustive. Given the pedagogical leaning of this Thesis, the intention is for the possible replicability and constant modification through time - like a living document.

DECALCOMANIA 01

In Deleuze and Guattari’s post-structuralist A Thousand Plateaus, a Rhizome refers to a network which connects any singular point to any other one. It is horizontal and non-hierarchical, in contrast to the Arborescent (referring to the shape and structure of a tree) which is essentially unidirectional - thus inherently dualist and reductive, where the relationships between points are structured by the dynamic between parenthood and offspring.

The academics outline a number of principles which summarize the Rhizome, the sixth being that of Decalcomania, related to the fifth of Cartography:

“What distinguishes the map from the tracing is that it is entirely oriented toward an experimentation in contact with the real.”

Decalcomania refers to the decorative technique by which engravings and prints may be transferred to pottery or other materials. It is often shortened as a “decal.”

The “timeline” essentializes three studies of temporal relationships, using the metaphor of polyphonic music. The stream on top beings in 1940 using 5 year increments to examine the history of sampling in music, particularly popular music, and the relationship songs have with their predecessors and worldly occurrences (how does WWII correlate to the conception of Musique Concrete?). The middle stream correlates major Western Architectural movements with progressions in media and significant artworks, beginning in 100 BCE using 100 year increments. The bottom stream studies the progression of film and major film eras, correlating them with references from major visual artworks starting from 1875 using 25 year increments.

Eduardo Villamor, Bidirectional Lineage, 2022

In the same way that a Rhizome rejects the unidirectional assertions of the Arborescent, this timeline rejects a certain perspective of “parenthood” between sampled songs and the songs which sample them, for example. The use of these samples lingers in the collective consciousness with the same vigor and validity as the “original” song, thus affecting the cultural perception of said “original.”

To illustrate, examine JID’s Surround Sound as a reference to Yasiin Bey’s Ms. Fat Booty. JID and his producers use the sample of Aretha Franklin’s One Step Ahead as a reference to Mos Def’s “original track,” made especially clear when Yasiin is introduced with “and now, a word from our ancestors” in a later track in JID’s album, Stars. The sample/reference is no longer singular to Franklin, but to Mos Def, as well.

Williamson presents an investigative model which appears aesthetically similar to the provided timeline, but is approached antithetically. Where she uses an Arborescent Structure, I use one more reminiscent of a Rhizome.

This detail pulled from the bottom-right region of the whole “timeline” to its left demonstrates the strength of this representation as a tool for examining referential expression. While Da Vinci’s The Last Supper is not immediately visible on the range presented by the bottom stream, if pulled down, the relationships between The Last Supper and contemporary film are made quite evident. While the ethos behind the references are specific to each film, they share a “common ancestor,” and thus are canonized in the cultural perception of the “original” painting.

I put “original” in quotes because it is a representation of an event, and while a painting may carry its own identities and vigor, it is inherently different from the event which it is presenting.

Eduardo Villamor, Bidirectional Lineage (detail), 2022

Roxanne Williamson American Architects and the Mechanics of Fame, 1991

METAPHOR 02

The essence of Metaphor is understanding one thing in the context of another: precipitation intensity in the terms of the weight of common household pets, life in terms of an interstate, etc. It is inherently connected to Allegory, and both of these are quite useful for Designers, especially “Architects,” due to our supposed/ apparent interdisciplinary responsibilities. It transcends communication or “getting over the hump” of gate-keeping; it is a practice in empathy and creativity.

Some assert that Architecture possesses an internal logic (whatever that means), and that this internal logic grants validity to the profession and the discipline (whatever that means). Architecture is about practice, and practice has never evolved out of an adherence to internal logics - it must break them to progress. This metamorphosis is where Metaphor enters the stage.

While there are certainly several alternatives to doing work, Metaphor is especially useful because it is low-hanging fruit by which to do a lot of work very quickly. This Thesis aims to do precisely that - to understand the terms of Architecture (or an “aspect” of Architecture) in those of other disciplines.

As the Rhizome suggests, the relationship between these concepts are not unidirectional, transactional, nor necessarily fully determinable. Similarly, Architecture may inform and be informed by other disciplines. “Alternative Practice” is a contentious term because it centralizes “Traditional Practice,” which is hardly definable, anyways. Just a couple decades ago, a “computational designer” was probably “Alternative,” whereas the skill sets for these designers are actually quite commonplace now.

“Sampling” will be used as a proxy for “Metaphor,” where the Thesis “samples” other disciplines, whether aesthetically, methodologically, representationally, etc.

This representation draws from three primary references as a practice in sampling:

Interstellar (film, 2014)

Slaughterhouse Five (book,1969)

No-Stop City (theory + construct, 1970s)

It understands time as a construct. Certain events have more gravitational weight than others with the possibility of being literally transported to new times in the same manner as walking up a hill. Our experiences of space and time are entirely dependent on our “physical” and “mental” faculties. Despite cognition hampering our apparent abilities to experience a transcendence, it also conjures the possibility.

Eduardo Villamor, No-Stop Tesseract, 2022

This representation reveals the diorama to construct the view for its cousin to the left. As much as this Thesis aims for some profundity, so to does it mean to tell its secrets. It is, after all, a guide on doing work. It should be transparent and readable.

Archizoom, No-Stop City. Veduta di citta, 1970

Eduardo Villamor, Toying with Time, 2022

PEDAGOGY 03

The objective of this Thesis is to provide a comprehensive (but puzzle-esque) method of facilitating a Design Studio - whether in practice or academia. It anticipates some shortcomings (and pain), but also the thickening of calluses in the process.

If a studio prompt were distilled from it, it would read as something like:

Hypothesize and test the ability of a discipline of your choosing to inform a method of doing work as it relates to “Architecture.” Define Architecture and said other discipline for yourself. A heuristic approach, though perhaps reductive, may be a useful place to start. What is spatial about coaching in basketball? What representational techniques can be borrowed and reappropriated from film?

If it were an apparent “Mission Statement,” of a practice it would read as:

We understand that the built environment is experienced by everyone. It is not a privilege and in many ways, not even a “right,” but an essential element of humanity. So long as we exist we occupy space, and we share that space with a panacea of experience, expertise, and perspective. It would be irresponsible to assert that We (“Architects,” “Developers,” “Planners,” etc.) hold some, if any, dominion over that without considering the perspectives of the composition of humanity. This must go beyond “planning for your needs.” We aim to approach “your” project the same way “you” would. The goal is not merely “collaboration” (though it is part of the process), but a holistic adoption and addition of practical semantics for doing work.

Eduardo Villamor, Stage of Mind, 2022

This representation borrows the logic from occupying time as space, literally “laying out” every proposed element of the Thesis, in a meta-sense, but also very directly.

It includes every element previously mentioned, with the tags (callouts) functioning as temporal and spatial markers for when (where) things will be made, actions will be documented, etc.

Admittedly, this is a loose organization with inevitable changes and does not consider some very important elements: a human is doing this and humans get tired.

“Desks” are used, in this representation, as a formal litmus test for different chapters of the Thesis. They can be understood as operating tables to demonstrate the intersection and inter-application of disciplines.

A high amount of skill-building is necessary for the adoption of other disciplines, though so too is a conceptual framework for which skills to build. The Studio will likewise incite some Representational Proof of the distillation of the concept of the adopted skills. Mastery is not necessarily the goal, but simply knowing that this proof is coming requires the skill-building to be conceptually charged.

The goal of these Representational Exercises is not to allow freereign, but considered and calculated Representational choices The Studio, in a sense, is more about the process of making things than the thing (not really revolutionary, but it is a good framework to tailor one’s actions when “success” is measured via degrees of experimentation).

Following these Representational Exercises will be a series of Case Studies wherein each is taken from the perspective of a student (a different discipline per student). Since the studio may only properly function if the student chooses disciplines which interests them, I will choose disciplines which interest me.

This “Proof” demonstrates the logics of Sampling as a conceptual approach for model appropriation, texture mapping, and a generally resourceful method for creating a scene. Though not narratively driven, this experiment aimed to distill spatial and aesthetic qualities using a random set of downloaded models and their textures, which were then mismatched, distorted, or otherwise manipulated.

Eduardo Villamor, Proto-Speciation 01 (Worm’s Eye), 2022

These exercises considers our relationships with imaging and representation wherein the capture of one view becomes the background of another, creating perspectival anomalies.

This capture begins to consider machines doing work on the previously mentioned A Banquet of the Officers of the St. George Militia Company in 1616. It is more narratively driven, imagining the image as tectonic plates, converging, pulling, transversing based on the hypothesized relationship between the men painted.

Bottom: Eduardo Villamor, Proto-Speciation 02 Step 01.2, 2022

Top Left & Right: Eduardo Villamor, Proto-Speciation 01 (detail), 2022

CREATIVE DESTRUCTION 04

Creative Destruction is an economical term, mostly associated with Joseph Schumpeter (though also related to Marx), considering business cycles, and more specifically economic innovation. The gist of the term is this:

Some degree of destruction is a prerequisite for creation and innovation. “Out with the old and in with the new,” is taken quite drastically here.

By this logic, some degree of Capitalism must fall to “make room” for Marxism. Creative Destruction is a powerful proxy by which to understand this Thesis. It indicates the fall of an “old way” of doing things, but the traditions of a “profession” or “practice” are not erased nor do they necessarily succumb to innovation. Architecture as a discipline is a palimpsest of these traditions, hence the apparently cryptic idiosyncrasies observed in both school and office.

This Thesis does not advocate for an abandonment of tradition, but an expansion of it, thus expanding the role and perspective of the Architect and the student as a Steward of design rather than a lone genius.

Plenty of literature has already covered the perception of an Architect as a borderline omnipotent designer of things, but this Thesis considers this coming evolution through the lens of Creative Destruction.

These drawings are representative of the notions surrounding Creative Destruction, yet (hopefully) reimagines what Destruction means (or should mean). As mentioned, Architecture (and all other disciplines and professions) is Palimpsest and was (were) wraught out of need: the design of the built environment. To abandon these apparent, essentialist roots is to abandon the discipline; that is not the goal.

Thus these images (a series of 18), reimagine things such as explosions as solid mass. Each image becomes the “context” for the following one.

Please refer to the following page for the entire series.

Eduardo Villamor, Proto-Speciation 02 Step 03, 2022

CASE STUDY: SAMPLING 05

For the Thesis, Sampling functions as a proxy to understand the borrowing of disciplinary practices, but it is a discipline in it of itself, and is also the primary inspiration for the term Original Remix

Sampling has a long and, at times, tumultuous history. Discussion about whether “Sampling” is anything more than Intellectual Property theft have existed since its inception, and is illustrated in numerous cease-and-desists since then. From my research and personal experience, it would not really be possible to indicate the methods by which every producer has used every sample, but I have broken them down into some main categories:

The Conceptually Dependent Sample

This category features samples which are thematically or tonally integrated into the song which samples them. The “original” songs are often used as a conceptual heuristic to gain some intuition about the songs. Despite his recent remarks, I elected to study some Kanye West songs to illustrate my points. His consistency through the early part of his career provides probably the most idiosyncratic catalogue of sample-usage, and it is hard to deny his influence, especially to younger producers. I do not condone his behavior nor his comments, but it is peculiar to note the apparent contradictions of his previous views with his current ones.

In “Blood on the Leaves,” West uses Nina Simone’s “Strange Fruit,” to suggest a parallel between the disturbing imagery of “Strange Fruit” and the borderline horror in toxic human relationships. The recontextualization of snippets is also quite frequent. Pusha T’s “Dreamin’ of the Past” samples Donny Hathaway’s cover of Lennon’s “Jealous Guy,” isolating the “I was dreaming of the past” lyric, removing the rest of the context of the song, honing in on the nostalgia of the starting line to indicate the tone and subject matter of the Pusha T’s song.

Eduardo Villamor, Sampled Architecture, 2022

These images are part of a series of 9 progressive “iterations.” They utilize the Library of Celsus, an emblematic example of the reconstruction technique, Anastylosis, as a song to be sampled. More precisely, they use a photogrammetry of the facade of Celsus as a sample upon which a structure (“song”) is built (written, produced). It uses historic preservation as a lens to understand sampling. Nearly every element of the image, other than Photoshop editing, was generated through borrowing, importing, distorting “found” models (songs).

In many ways, this is like using the 99 cent bin to splice, mix, and loop samples to make a song, except only that these models were free. “Public domain,” if you will.

Please refer to the following page for the remainder of the series.

The Indifferent Sample

Not a single sample use can be truly “indifferent,” but it artists and producers will often use sampled elements as a strictly auditory and not conceptual device. In many ways this is linked to “intuitive representation” in Architecture, but that whole careers have been made from intuitively “desirable” (catchy, accessible, etc.) curations of sound is quite substantive, anyways.

Rick Rubin, Kanye West, Pharrell Williams, and J Dilla are artists who come to mind. “99 Problems” by Jay-Z (produced by Rubin) samples “Long Red” by Mountain and “The Big Beat” by Billy Squier. “Good Life” by West samples a snippet of Michael Jackson’s “P.Y.T.” as a (“merely”) melodic element.

There can be much said about how these samples resonate with the “vibe” or “energy” or “general feel” of the song, but these criteria are too ambiguous. This does not invalidate the use of these samples, but it does question the relationships between aesthetics and apparent substance. The notion of “the style is substance” (in Internet discourse, this is often linked to the 2011 film “Drive”) seems reductive, but it is quite fitting. A most direct relationship between aesthetics and apparent “meaning” suggests a unidirectional path between denotation and connotation. These nuanced “Indifferent” samples either subvert the expected relationship between sample and song, or even message and tone, or conjure a new element. OutKast, for example, laces social commentary and rather dark subject matter with light-hearted (sampling) production (i.e. most of Aquemini).

“Let’s talk about time travelin’, rhyme javelin Somethin’ mind unravelin’, get down”

- Andre 3000, Return of the G, 1998

“Y’all don’t want to hear me, you just want to dance”

- Andre 3000, Hey Ya!, 2003

Top: Eduardo Villamor, Sampling Devices, 2022

There are boundless methods to work on a sample, and most of them don’t have names. Chopping, reversing, looping, and pitching are some common terms, but they have more to do with the semantics of sampling and less with how one thinks and interacts with them. The equivalent of “chopping, reversing, looping, and pitching” for Architecture students is something like “scanning, printing, reading, and sketching.” They are valuable, useful, and often fruitful, but they don’t have inherent concepts. I believe that the way producers use samples is very similar to how “Architectural” designers use information: we distill a narrative, we draw attention or callout an important element, we tailor representation, etc.

To do work on the “sample” (Celsus model), scaffolding as a reference to the process of its reconstruction and other spatial interventions were introduced, as indicated by the previous representations. These representations are concerned with manifesting the “steps” or semantics of engagement by expressing actions like “extraction” or “extrapolate” with machines that “extrude” or “analyze.”

Please refer to the following page for the remainder of the series.

SITE STUDY 01: LIBRARY OF CELSUS 06

The Library of Celsus in Ephesus is a fundamental example of Anastylosis:

A Preservation method wherein a ruin is reconstructed or restored utilizing original Architectural elements as much as possible. It is often criticized because, regardless of research depth, some level of interpretation will have to occur, resulting in errors (which are often not perceptible). Damage to “original” elements is inevitable, and it does not consider the possibility that elements could have been used in other structures in different times.

In relation to Sampling, Anastylosis (and Preservation in general) is contentious. Songs are often sampled when they become public domain or if they have no associated royalties. The discordance occurs because Sampling often intends to manipulate the original so it can be deemed as “fair use.”

The intervention at Celsus, in essence, is not a proposed “physical” structure, but a speculative and interactive Augmented Reality manipulation of space. It is wholly transformative in that it imagines a structure which would be more akin to Historic Perversion than Preservation, yet respectful in its externalization of the histories and geometries embedded in Celsus.

It reimagines the current ruined site as a facilitator of its “original” utility: a cultural and intellectual focal point for Ephesus. The site samples the elements while building on a space which is essentially “unbuildable” by physical means.

Right: Eduardo Villamor, Semi-Real Celsus, 2023 Representation of the semi-real proposed Intervention at the Library of Celsus in Ephesus.

Top Left: Ephesus Cartography

The Library of Celsus resides within the ruins of Ancient Ephesus.

Top Right: Sampled Intervention

Notions of Sampling were utilized to propose a highly context-responsive AR intervention: borrowing the geometries and measures from the Library’s and Gates column/aperture alignments.

SITE STUDY 02: 1520 SEDGWICK 07

In the summer of 1973, then 16-year-old DJ Kool Herc would MC in the recreation room of 1520 Sedgwick upon request by his sister, Cindy, for a back-to-school party. Cindy threw the party because she wanted a new wardrobe for the coming year. No one involved anticipated that this event would be the impetus for 1520 to be coined as the Birthplace of Hip-Hop.

In the early 1970s, the Cross Bronx Expressway displaced thousands of Bronx residents. It became a constant reminder of white flight and redlining in the Bronx. 1520 Sedgwick is located on the Expressway and housed several of those who were displaced by it.

The intervention at Sedgwick speculates on use of Sampling techniques to retaliate on the racist physical infrastructure. Sound, especially volume, is as highly politicized as music. The practice of white flight can be linked to an apparent desire for quiet, associating high sound levels with “undesirable” spaces and people.

The intervention will actively sample the sounds of the highway, recording them, manipulating them, and then playing it back at the road at its resonant frequency. It would effectively destroy the racist infrastructure directly adjacent to what DJ Kool Herc described as “the Bethlehem of hip-hop culture.”

Visually externalizing the situations which accumulated to the apparent “Birth of Hip-Hop” at 1520 Sedgwick: forced relocation due to the Bronx expressway, Redlining, low-income housing.

Right: Eduardo Villamor, Sedgwick Situation, 2023

The proposed intervention resembles a turntable, sampling the sounds of highway and returning those sampled sounds back at the highway’s resonant frequency.

Top Left: Plan Oblique of Proposed Intervention

Top Right: DJ Kool Herc in the Intervention

SITE STUDY 03: SHURIJO CASTLE 08

Shurijo Castle, often referred to as Shuri Castle, is the 11th registered Japanese World Heritage Site. As a symbol of Okinawa and the Ryukyu Kingdom, the castle is an immensely valuable cultural resource. Most interestingly, the castle has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. It is a (living) example of Theseus’ Paradox. Whether Shuri Castle is still the same Castle is a powerful prompt to consider the relationship between Sampled or even Covered building practices. It questions whether social function, associated reverence, or absolute material faithfulness are primary factors in Preservation, and especially how those practices may be translated into recontextualizing built works as intellectual property.

Though its precise date of construction is unknown, it is estimated to have preceded the 1400s, built during the Gusuku period. Sho Hashi established the Ryukyu Kingdom in Okinawa around 1429, residing in Shuri Castle. It became the flagship administrative center of the Kingdom for 450 years, adopting trading and political functions along the way. The Castle is emblematic of evolving program, spatial, and social conditions:

Around 1609, samurai forces took the Castle over, causing significant damage in the process. In the 1879, the Empire of Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom, repurposing the castle as military barracks. In 1896, the garrison withdrew, leaving behind a network of underground defensive tunnels. In 1923, it was re-designated a Shinto shrine, and in 1925 as a “national treasure.” During World War II, the Japanese Army’s headquarters were located in the underground spaces of the Castle. Between 1950 and 1975, the University of Ryukyus was established, using the Castle as a campus. In 2008, Call of Duty: World at War used the Castle as the final American MIssion. In 2019, the Castle burned down again, and it was reconstructed using primarily historic photographs.

Right: Eduardo Villamor, Shurijo 2049, 2023

A practice in externalizing influences and speculating on the adoptions of any one of the interventions from the logics and methods of another.

Top Left: Intervention as Attraction

The Castle stands as a popular tourist destination. With constant reminders of its history and associations, the Castle doesn’t necessarily suggest a need for an intervention. The proposal, thus, is highly referential to the Castle’s geometries and, like with the other interventions, is intended to externalize its histories in an Augmented experience.

Due to its successive metamorphoses, the invisible intervention may be thought of as the headquarters for this network of interventions. This program is highly referential to its previous function as a diplomatic and productive space.

Top Right: Shurijo Situation

Shurijo Castle is centrally situated on a small hill, surrounded by walls and several protective structures. Despite the several proximal historic sites as indicated above, Shuri Castle is generally observed as the cultural capital of Okinawa.

LOOKING FORWARD 09

Sampling provisioned a proxy by which to approach the research, distillation, and application of a series of considerations for each Intervention and corresponding discipline.

Each Intervention can be developed further, each one not attended to can be conceived, each discipline can be borrowed from. The goal of this Thesis, however, was not to provide an “answer” or absolute “resolution” to any of these. It was intended as a basis for questioning the validity of “professions,” which places an incredible load on the professionals, gatekeeps certain bodies of knowledge from those not, and encourages potentially harmful power dynamics.

Original Remix: Transcendent Disciplines chiefly attempts to establish a precedent for a potential structure of how to approach, beyond Architectural Design, methods for adoption and empathy.

The following final pages of this manual will detail the essential DNA for the Thesis, citing an imagined space of the Memory Palace of the Sampler

Right: Eduardo Villamor, Memory Palace of a Sampler, 2023

Accompanying this Manual is a construct - each construct provides the conceptual DNA of each intervention. Embedded within this DNA is its intellectual basis: the Memory Palace of a Sampler.

EXTRACTION SITE MINING INTELLECTUAL RESOURCES & OCCUPYING A TEMPORAL LANDSCAPE

This spatial metaphor offers intellectual resources as a physical one. These resources are mined and weaponized. As with oil and water, it fuels individuals and whole societies. The Sampler may harvest songs as a farmer does crops. These resources are sustaining, enriching, and extremely varied. To be well-fed is to be well-informed.

REFINERY SITE TRANSFORMATION OF EXPRESSION

Sampling reinterprets the harvested intellectual resources. The Sampler, Historic Preservationist, and Adaptive Reuser are kindred spirits. Retrospective celebrations are temporal events in themselves; a song sampling another may anticipate itself being sampled further down the temporal landscape.

CULTURAL THEATRE RECONTEXTUALIZATION OF RESOURCES

Sampling inherently recontextualizes the histories and identities of “the original,” to a point where the validity of the term is contentious. For example, when a song is sampled, its identity is tied to the song which samples it. Deductive logic, then, suggests that even “the original” came from something: cultural, social, even political contexts. The Rhizome suggests that the simultaneous coexistence of these contexts with “the product” (the song). These “products” transcend entertainment; their temporal medium aligns with their palimpsestic qualities.