The transformation from a creative idea to a physical artifact, whether it be written, audible, digitally interactive, or objectified, can offer the opportunity to change the entire context of the matter, and allow for different identities of the work to be created altogether. Throughout time, many artistic artifacts existent in cultures of the world have taken new shapes and popularities through remediations such as book-to-movie adaptations, song remixes, or movies inspired by older textual works. Because of these creative and technological affordances, our ultimate perception of textuality, authorship, narrative, and authenticity can be essentially destabilized through these transformations - posing questions such as "What is 'authority' in creating a piece?" and "Which 'medium' presents a most authentic 'message'?" Considering this, it is important to note that a piece's ultimate message can be swayed or altered in its existence on another platform, sometimes outside of the context that the original creator intended. By limiting the opportunity to do such, though, consider where poignant cultural artifacts in our society would be today. Would they be existent at all? It's fascinating to observe how a single work can be remediated and cross-pollinated among various consumable platforms to largely affect cultural periods, and make an impact on society, and the advancements of technology and creativity are continually allowing for the furthering of this.

 

     Music, is, as quoted by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, "...the universal language of mankind" (qtd. by Shah Mbe for ThoughtEconomics). It's a unique and culturally prolific way that allows for the "...rediscover[ing] of humanity and connection to [it]..." (Zimmer qtd. by Shah Mbe for ThoughtEconomics). Through the creation of a song, various mediums are employed, from the original scratching of temporal lyrics on paper, to the digital construction of the melody, to the final technology-based release of the completed work. Because of the fascinating extent of the human mind, each of these contributions to the ultimate artifact have the potential to change the perception of the piece. While the lyrics of a particular song are often the "meat" and meaning of it, the addition of audible bits including instrumentals and vocals can either add or subtract from the perceived meaning of the work. Further, with the affordances that media and creativity provide us as individuals, these elements of textuality, digital expression, and others can invent space for remediation of these original works, which can "...evoke us in unique ratios of sense perceptions" (Mcluhan 41). The vastness of inventive transformation that writing, sound, and remediation provide to the creative community is a perfect example of the abilities that "mediums" have to transform the "messages" they ultimately output.

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     With these theories and informative elements in mind, the question is posed, then - considering an individual work and its many remediated or refashioned facets, is there a "supreme" medium or heirarchy involved within the web of artifacts? Does one medium reign over others if it has ultimately made a larger impact in society, or is it up to the individual consuming the plethora of works to decide which emulates the most "meaning?" When considering a piece such as "La Vie En Rose" (a song), many written, audible, and digital renditions of the work exist in addition to the prolific original song, and have become so widely known that the importance of the main artifact can be swayed, in a sense. This ideally creates a unique conversation surrounding the value of "medium" and how it can have a varying web of impacts among individuals, who all think and operate on different wavelengths. Just as authors and intellectuals throughout time such as Ong, McLuhan, and Birkerts present widely differing viewpoints regarding the use of certain mediums, individuals have the right to present a span of opinions regarding the consumed "message" contrived from these artifacts. Thus, through these observations, it's unique and fascinating to consider the context varying mediums can apply to cultural artifacts of our social world, and how they are perceived by humanity.