Monday, April 4, 2011

Funism - Theft of Intellectual Property


Some of you will remember me (Sal Marino) from many years ago when I began promoting The Funism Art Movement c2001-2002, claiming copyright to the "The Funism Art Movement", "Funism Art", "Funist" , etc... Although imitation is said to be the greatest form of flattery, I feel it necessary to point out something that has been happening on the net and elsewhere.
In a seemingly devious attempt to take the wind out of my sails and divert attention to himself, an artist [?] by the name of Norm Magnusson has been blogging around the net that he started the movement in 1991. What I had discovered through my research was that there seems to be an obscure article by an unknown writer referencing a "fun-ism style" somewhere around that date. However, there doesn't seem to be any supporting documentation that the article was actually published in 91, unless of course you believe Magnusson's self-authored internet posts. I also discovered that Magnusson is a member of a site called "The Art of the Prank" which undoubtedly is the basis of his motivations regarding his posts and likely his art. {Magnusson's membership on the 'Art of the Prank' site shamelessly boasts "Art Pranks, Culture Jamming and Reality Hacking" as if it were a badge!} Curiously, Magnusson had not attached himself, nor his work to the name whatsoever, nor did he promote himself as such until somewhere around 2007 when he launced his site on the net. By 2007 the movement was well established and enjoyed some publicity as such and it is no wonder that some artists would want to attach themselves to it and piggyback whatever publicity the movement generated.
Naturally I challenged Magnusson to provide documentation to his spurious claims, but he failed to respond, instead digging in his heals and expanding his lies. I suspect that through his prankster "MO' some other self authored posts have appeared [curiously post 2007] attempting to bolster his deceptions. While I understand an artist's attempt to garner some publicity, it is an outright theft of intellectual property to claim the creation of another as your own. Magnusson would be better served attempting to create something original if he can and stop stealing and detracting from others. In my opinion Magnusson is nothing more than a thief, prankster and uninspired artist. Additional proof of this individuals deceptions is his listing on a site identifying "culture jamming organizations and people" at absoluteastronomy.com. One does not have to be an accomplished forensic detective to clearly recognize this prankster's motivations.  

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