MET CCO Works for Remix and Reuse

In 2017, New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art released 375,000 digital works for remix and re-use online via CC0. The statement issued by Creative Commons regarding this states, "CC0 allows anyone to use, re-use, and remix a work without restriction. This announcement will shape the future of public domain images online and underscores the Met’s leadership role as one of the most important open museum collections in the world."

I personally welcome the move as an opportunity to re-energize some beautiful, hidden gems from by-gone eras. I will be writing about my creative process in future posts as I explore ways to breathe new life into some of the newly available MET images. 

Here are three samples of my recent adaptations in progress, to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

In each of these samples I have taken MET tapestry panels, cropped and placed them in mirror repeat. This repeat format is the easiest to manage as the edges naturally join perfectly with their opposing selves. Other repeat formats, such as square and half-drop repeats require a lot more manipulation to get seamless joints with the original panel edges.

Although mirror repeat is the easiest format to use it's not always the most suitable. In the middle sample I have shown, you can see a 'push me pull you' horse, with two heads. Although I quite like this quirk the market I'm aiming for may not. Despite its faults the mirror format does give an immediate idea for creating continuously repeating designs, such as those used for printing lengths of fabric, paper etc.   

I've also played around with the original colors, giving them a bit more vibrancy and definition.

So, from identifying the MET tapestry panels from their CCO image collection, I've started to develop ideas which could lead, eventually, to some repeating, printed textile designs. Stay tuned for updates.