Another treasure accidentally found on YouTube — “Anthem of Freelance Anthropology” shown on MTV.

Freedom sounds mix of Ehtnographic Public Domain Footage:

[FOOTAGE]
EDWARD S. CURTIS
“IN THE LAND OF WAR CANOES:
KWAKIUTL INDIAN LIFE ON THE NORTHWEST COAST”(1914)

ZORA NEALE HURSTON
“FIELDWORK”(1928 )

MAYA DEREN
“DIVINE HORSEMEN
THE LIVING GODS OF HAITI”(1947)

[MUSIC]
THE SKATALITES
“FREEDOM SOUNDS”

Vodpod videos no longer available.

In addition to the YouTube channel, there is the anthropologix blog (in Japanese). As far as I could understand, the maker of the video is a Tokyo-based band called Illcommonz (“ill+commons” see: http://www.myspace.com/illcommonz), who have produced a number of interesting dub/alternative pieces such as “Junk and Progress of the Man,” and “Taro the Voodoo Man.” The band’s Japanese website can be found at: http://illcomm.exblog.jp/. Among the band’s influences are Jacques Derrida (incidentally, see my collection of videos in the vodpod to the right, there is one of Derrida “On Love and Being” where he seems to be tortured by the question, “what about love,” painful and yet funny to watch). The artists in the band are identified as: “Contemporary Artist, Independent Ethnographer, Art & Literature Critic, Graphic Designer, Movie Maker, Track Maker, Part-time Lecturer, Gift-Economist, Expressive Activist, Precariate, and some others.” One of the artists is Masanori Oda (photo) who identifies himself as an ethnologist and installation artist. I will return to the ideas and questions this phenomenon evokes and provokes, in subsequent posts.

For more information and discussion of this video, please click here.