Pondering the Anti-Mashup

Thu 20 Mar 2008, 07:41 AM

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by Ben Langhinrichs
The concept of a mashup has been all the rage recently, but I encountered something I could only describe as an anti-mashup, Garfield Minus Garfield, a comic which has its namesake element removed, leaving more than you might think, a "comic about schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life".  I refer to this as an anti-mashup, because rather than taking different pieces and combining them together, this takes a whole and removes a heretofore vital element.

As I pondered this example, I realized that there could be other anti-mashups that might also expose a greater truth by removing a vital element.  For example, imagine the popular Mac vs. PC ads in a world where Microsoft won and there was no competition.  Simply edit out the Mac person and voice, and watch the ad with just the "I'm a PC" left in.  If I had the editing skills, I'd do it myself, but I bet it would be quite powerful.

This doesn't work for everything, obviously.  For example, Cathy Minus Cathy would not reveal much that already wasn't there.  But can you think of other anti-mashups that might work wll and reveal different truths than these two examples?

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