Author(s): Ben Schwartz

ART THEORY

Over the last few decades the term “bootlegging” has become understood as a creative act. The debates about homage, appropriation, and theft that are common in the art world are now being held in the sphere of corporate branding, social media, and the creative industry as a whole. Bootlegging has become fetishized as an aesthetic in and of itself, influencing everything from underground record labels to DIY T-shirts, and from publishing ideologies to acts of haute couture détournement. ‘Unlicensed’ presents 21 interviews with an array of creative practitioners on the topic of bootlegging, investigating its creative and critical potential and how it can thrive as a cultural force.