Determining Domain (2012-13)
Apple
Television advertisement for first iPhone, 2007
In his 1995 film Telephones, artist Christian Marclay spliced together snippets of actors from Hollywood films answering phones. According to Marclay, Apple initially contacted him to request permission to use the concept for a new iPhone advertisement that debuted during the 2007 Oscars. He refused.
“The way they dealt with the whole thing is pretty sleazy,” Marclay says. He talked to a lawyer about taking legal action over the advertisement, but was told that there’s nothing he could do legally about it. Marclay further states, “This culture’s so much about suing each other that if we want to have anything that’s more of an open exchange of ideas, one has to stop this mentality. I’m just honored that they thought my work was interesting enough that they felt they could just rip it off.”
Determining Domain
November 7, 2012 – January 19, 2013
Intersection for the Arts
San Francisco, CA
Photo credit: Scott Chernis