Gimme the Mermaid

“Gimme the Mermaid” is a bizarre collage animation video created by Naked Rabbit for the upcoming Negativland DVD “Our Favorite Things”. Here’s the backstory:

This piece was commissioned by the experimental sound collage group Negativland for the video compilation, “Our Favorite Things,” soon to be released. The track had been cut by Negativland several years before, an audio document of their problems with copyright/trademark issues concerning their “U2” album. Many years and a painful settlement later, they had successfully transformed their experience into even more art, and a little activism besides. This little piece, made on Disney equipment after hours when no one was looking, remains quite popular. San Francisco experimental filmmaker Craig Baldwin has been kind enough to include it in “culture jamming” programs he has organized throughout the US and Europe. Several times has it been used in conferences and on panels about copyright for the legal profession. And it’s fun, to boot. The statute of limitations has apparently run out on this piece, and it is now considered perfectly legal. What a relief!