ThruYOU and the start of big things
Written on March 13, 2009
Not sure if I can add to the discussion happening around Kutiman’s massively popular ThruYOU video experiment, except his work feels like the first strike in the beginning of something evolutionary.
His work reminds me of the DangerMouse/Grey Album situation: A massively creative and original concept that found instant diehard fans and litigation lawyers; offered for free as a purely artistic statement; and – as I’m sure ThruYOU will be – widely used as a template for copycats worldwide following success and fame for the artist.
This doesn’t even take into account the fact that Kutiman directly credits (on each video’s YouTube page) all the artists sampled, thereby increasing their shot at sharing in his fame. The mark of a true artist and collaborator.
When jaded marketing types feel there’s nothing we haven’t seen, something like ThruYOU comes along and changes the paradigm on social media, art, and the creation process. The concept seems so simple and obvious now that we’ve seen the work – and yet a few days ago no one could have imagined such a thing.
But this is how movements start. And I can’t wait to see where we go next.
