culture sampling

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Beginning in May and ending in October of 1893, there was a site in Chicago

that, to this day, is unparalleled in its scope of spatial and cultural organization.

The Worlds Columbian Exposition was one of the most influential of the worlds

expositions, in no small part due to the ways in which it offered visitors an unprece-

dented view of culture and people. As visitors walked into the 600-acre space, they

saw people, places, material culture, technology, and exhibits that had rarely been

placed in such juxtaposition before: displays of wooden disks and blocks (from Wis-

consin, Kentucky, Mississippi, Russia and other nations) and windmills that ranged

from authentic Dutch-style versions and more modern metal types from the

United States; a full-scale replica of the Liberty Bell fashioned out of oranges

from San Diego; a faithful reproduction of an Athenian temple; the Ruins of Ux-

mal that though cast from molds of the original ruins from, the Yucatan, would

have appeared to many visitors to the exposition as the real thing; an African

bimba boat, authentic Viking ship, a Santa Maria replica, and a battleship; totem

poles from British Columbia, houses with Penobscot Indians living inside, a recon-

struction of Black Rock Mountain and cliff dwellings, an Aztec village and the

Streets of Cairo, a Blarney Castle and the Temple of Luxor, a Bedouin Encamp-

ment and authentic Lapland Village; a Javanese orchestra, an Arab spearmenWild East Show, indigenous peoples from Dahomey, Samoa, Algeria, and many

other nations; a submarine diving exhibit, giant Krupp gun exhibit, and the 264-

foot Ferris Wheel; and, even, an International Dress and Costume Exhibit that ad-

vertised 40 Ladies from 40 Nations.[1]

What it must have been like for the visitor to the Worlds Columbian Exposi-tion and, especially, as they entered the Midway Plaisanceto have encountered

the senses of recombination of forms from the past and from far-off places, to

have felt the corporeal effects of rides and dramatic sensory displays that shook

the body in literal and figurative senses, to have seen and touched the exotic curios

and buildings of other worlds, to have had that sense of empowerment in seeing

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the great technological and economic marvels of other nations, and to have, all

the while, reflected on the sensibilities within the mind of travel, nostalgia, dj vu,

and history. The effects of the Midway Plaisance on visitors, not unlike the similar

effects in the worlds of technological sampling (including musical, video, and

multi-media forms) induced sensibilities of culture shock as people struggled tomake sense of the radical juxtapositions of people, cultures, and cultural symbols.

The effects of architecture offered visitors senses of awe and wonder as they con-

templated buildings, faade, and ornamentation that they had never witnessed be-

fore and the forces of crowds and movement forced people to appreciate new so-

cial sensibilities and to negotiate social arrangements that would later transform

more visitors in popular amusement parks like those of Coney Island. What the

Worlds Columbian Exposition and its Midway Plaisance instituted was a powerful

total form that would later be repeated in other worlds expositions, amusement

parks, theme parks, and various themed spaces. This total form, in which visitors

are introduced to sights, sounds, symbols, people, performances, and a myriad of

other forms in a unified yet contradictory way, may be referred to as culture sam-

pling.

This research addresses the idea of culture samplingor the ways in which cul-

tures are recreated in new placesand its influence on the contemporary worlds

of technological sampling. The study begins with a focus on the many precedents

that gave way to the tendencies of culture sampling. Included in this focus are the

historical examples of early travel and exploration, specific aesthetic forms, and

popular amusement spaces of worlds expositions and amusement parks. Following

this background, the research will consider three specific worlds or sites of culture

samplingthe theme park, the themed spaces, and the space of historical recon-

struction. The research concludes with a reflection on the parallels and tendencies

that can be understood in the worlds of culture sampling and technological sam-

pling.

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The Precedents for Culture Sampling

The example of the Worlds Columbian Exposition suggests that culture sampling

began to take root as the idea of juxtaposing different people, cultures, technolo-

gies, and forms of material culture in one unified place became more common-place. Like the world of popular amusement in the worlds exposition and the

amusement park, two other significant cultural developments were significant in

the establishment of a worldview characterized by culture samplingcultural ex-

ploration and experimental aesthetics. These three arenas of culture sampling em-

phasize where (in historical, temporal, and geographic senses) this burgeoning

form took hold. Each includes a specific trope (the cabinet of curiosities, the exotic

other, and the otherworldly) that emphasizes the powerful historical, cultural, andpolitical forces that gave rise to a worldview characterized by culture sampling.

The first of these precedents for culture samplingcultural explorationisincredibly significant. With the advent of seafaring and European exploration in

the Fifteenth Century, the world was introduced to a powerful cultural and politi-

cal force that would indelibly impact the future ways in which cultures connected

with one another. Prior to this age, cultures came into contact in more localized

senses, and with seafaring the possibilities of a culture with radically contrasting

material forms, technology, norms, and outlooks on the world meeting a second

culture were greatly increased. In this new era of cultural exploration and discov-

ery, powerful civilizations expanded their empires, while smaller nations and in-

digenous peoples became the unfortunate and unwilling vassals of the more power-

ful peoples. Cultural exploration was an important foundation for culture sam-

pling as it juxtaposed two cultures in necessary, though often uncomfortable and

unequal, proximity and dialogue. Significant in the new cultural relationships of-fered by exploration and conquest was the idea of communication between two

cultures. Whatever the purposewhether trade, religious conversion, or idle curi-

ositythe result of culture contact was to set in motion the connection of differ-

ing cultures. In some cases the result was exploitation and cultural appropriation

of less powerful nations (such as in the Napoleonic campaigns), while in others the

result was an admixture and transformation of both cultures. This initial establish-

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exploration created the possibility of contact between different cultures, the work

of artists offered an admixture, a hybridity in which the different cultures could be

re-presented in a third formthe work of art. Some of the most significant aes-

thetic movements appeared in the twentieth century, and while they challenged

perception, offered powerful new modes of cultural and political criticism, and in-voked jarring new artistic sensibilities, they should perhaps be best remembered

for their impacts on culture sampling. Many avant-garde artists saw a different po-

tential in the encounters that had been experienced in the ages of cultural explora-

tion. The tendencies of the other culturethe rituals, norms, everyday prac-

tices, and, especially, the art and forms of material culturecould be appropri-

ated, embellished upon, remixed and reworked in incredibly innovative ways.

What these many aesthetic movements emphasized was that the initial inspira-tion of art could be located in another culture or placeradically different from

the home culture and place of the artist. Paul Gauguins Tahiti, Vincent van

Goghs Japan, Pablo Picassos Africa and Micronesia, and Tristan Tzaras Africa

all served as places and cultures of inspiration. In some cases, the drawing on the

place and culture of inspiration resulted in new artistic forms that closely mim-

icked the original places, while in others the new forms were abstract representa-

tions that captured specific moods, emotions, or values associated with the culturesof inspiration. Contemporary forms of sampling and remixingincluding musi-

cal and video formsowe much to the innovations of artistic appropriation. The

artistic movement known as Primitivism, for example, provided ideas for future

musicians, including those of Worldbeat, who would see the rhythmic, tonal, and

stylistic aspects of indigenous music as inspiration for their new dance beats. [4]

While the age of cultural exploration provided culture sampling with the figure of

the cabinet of curiosities, aesthetics offered the figure of the exoticthe far-offplace, person, or cultural practice that was not just different from the cultural and

aesthetic practices of the artist, it was radically and transformatively different. The

cultural and aesthetic practices of exotic cultures suggested an important potential

for culture samplingthis was the idea that an original (home) cultural form of

the artist could be radically altered due, in part, to the inspirations of the exotic

culture.

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The figure of the exotic, however, is not invoked without critical awareness onthe part of many cultural critics who charge that aesthetic movements that have

appropriated the tendencies of exotic cultures have done so at the expense of the

indigenous cultures. This couldnt be clearer when the exotic makes its appearance

in the spaces of popular amusements. In the case of worlds expositionsas was

considered earlier with the Worlds Columbian Expositionindigenous peoples

were paraded in living dioramas, all the while others gawked at the displays of

savagery in front of their eyes. This critique should never be forgotten, yet, at

the same time, it is important to recognize that the development of cultural sam-

pling is an uneven and often politically precarious course.

The world of popular amusements took the figure of the exotic and trans-formed it. It was not only the exotic indigenous person who was put on display for

the visitors to worlds expositions and amusement parks, but it was all manners of

representation, display, and performance that connoted a third but equally impor-

tant figure to the cabinet of curiosities and the exoticthe otherworldly. Some of

the greatest spectacles that were seen at both worlds expositions and amusements

parks like Steeplechase Park, Luna Park, and Dreamland were large-scale dramas

that purported to transport the amusement visitor to another world. Spectacleslike re-creations of the Boer War, the Civil War battles of the Monitor and the

Merrimac, real-life fire-fighting demonstrations, and science-fiction fantasy rides like

A Trip to the Moon, offered culture sampling the sensibility of actively participat-

ing in the drama of another cultural world. The visitor did not have to travel to an-

other part of the world on a grand tour, or even gaze at a cabinet of curiosities, he

or she could step into the space of one of the many immersive rides and demon-

strations that transform how people think of popular amusement today. Worldsfairs and amusement parks created a stage on which reception to cultural sampling

and remixing was institutionalized. What was significant with the worlds fair and

the amusement park was the sense that an entire worlda sampling of its places,

people, great technologies, art forms, and significant cultural institutionscould

be rebuilt and shown to the masses for a short period of time. The distance that

was still present between an admirer of a primitivist work of art and the work of

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art was lessened in the case of these popular amusement spaces. One could, quite

literally, step into the worlds that had been culturally sampled for him or her.

The Worlds of Culture Sampling

The three previous cases of cultural exploration, aesthetics, and popular amuse-

ments suggested a where of culture sampling or a consideration of how culture

sampling developed in rather loose temporal, cultural, and historical senses. It is

also important to reflect on the how of culture sampling or the unique ways in

which culture sampling has taken root and has expanded in the world. Three case

studiestheme parks, themed spaces, and spaces of historical reconstructionare

especially significant in this respect. Associated with the case studies are culturalfoundationsnarrativization, personalization and normativity, and tradi-

tionthat illustrate the major reasons why culture sampling became such a promi-

nent worldview in everyday life, especially in terms of how the everyday sampling

of cultures parallels the ways in which individuals involved in technological sam-

pling have made sampling incredibly personal.

Theme parks could, above all, be considered the spaces of popular culture

that have utilized the principles of culture sampling to the most significant ends.

Like worlds expositions and amusement parks before them, theme parks establish

connections with visitors by offering varied forms of amusement, senses of other-

worldly places, and activities that contrast with those undertaken by people in

their everyday lives. The traditions of cultural eclecticism established by worlds ex-

positions and amusement parks were an important development in the history of

culture sampling, but establishing connections between radically different cul-

tureseither through the use of cultural forms and people on site or through dra-

matic reconstructions of these originary other spaces and experienceswas not

enough. [5] What theme parks like Disneyland, Six Flags Over Texas, and many

others offered cultural sampling in the 1960s was a sense of narrativization.

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Narrativization refers to the ways in which forms of culturesuch as iconic archi-

tecture, performance and folkways, and other identifiable or symbolic as-

pectsare sampled and deployed in forms of dramatic storytelling. [6] One of the

key ways in which narrativization operates in the theme park is through the use of

themelands. Themelands are large sections of theme parks that have been organ-ized around a central theme; very often, this theme is related to a geographical

area or period of cultural history. Disney and Six Flags theme parks established

powerful precedents of using themelands and all that they entailthemed rides,

shops, attractions, displays, and performancesas the primary storytelling devices

of their parks. While worlds expositions and amusements relied on themed rides

and attractions within their spaces, their use was often disjointed and disconnected

from larger narrative constructs. Theme parksnot unlike contemporary DJ and

remix culture that suggests an overall connection of individual samples within a

musical work and a connection of the practices of sampling to larger aesthetic, po-

litical, and even moral value systemsused the narrative creations that are com-

posed of the smaller bits of culture to inculcate in visitors the larger stories of

Americana, the West, freedom, and other political and moral cosmologies. [7] As

culture sampling develops through the theme park form, more and more consum-

ers have been exposed to its forms because of the ways in which theme parks have

captivated them with stories.

Themed spaces, like theme parks, have helped to guide the contemporary tra-jectories of culture sampling. More and more, visitors to major cities in most parts

of the world have encountered a themed casino, restaurant, bar, or other space.

Themed spaces are spaces that have been inspired by the methods of theming

used in theme parks. They utilize a central themesuch as Western, tropical, Pari-

sian, and other variationsto organize the space in material and conceptualsenses. [8] In ways parallel to those described in the world of theme parks, themed

spaces have developed the earlier inspirations of culture sampling in ways that

have further solidified the consumers acceptance of the varied ways in which cul-

tures, places, and people (whether stereotypes or not) appear in radically innova-

tive, uncanny, and cultural association with one another. [9] The dynamic ways in

which theming establishes new sensibilities of consumerism are profound, but

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more significant in terms of how culture sampling becomes a powerful worldview

in contemporary life is the issue of personalization and associated normativity.

In recent years, theming has undertaken a curious, yet significant develop-ment in terms of culture sampling. Like the ways in which contemporary homemusicians use musical sampling technologies in their home studios, everyday con-

sumers have utilized the approaches of theming to develop their own themed

spaces. Homes, office spaces, and parties are commonly themed along the lines of

evocative place- and culture-based themes that have been sampled from the cul-

tural repository of themed spaces of the past. [10] In some cases these take the

form of eclectic and highly imaginative personal spaces that are designed accord-

ing to the aesthetic influences of Star Trek, Western films, or senses of the gothic,

but even more interesting are the tendencies found within the popular movement

known as Tiki culture. Tiki is a subcultural form that involves lifestyle, cultural,

and material associations of popular, if not stereotypical, Polynesian cultures. In

the 1930s, the form emerged as many Tiki-themed restaurants and bars opened in

the United States; in later years, chains (like Trader Vics) helped to popularize this

interesting and eclectic mix of island music, tropical drinks, iconic and exotic mate-

rial culture and dcor, and laid-back lifestyle. What was, and still is, characteristic

about the theming in Tiki was the sense of a wink that it offers to both the aficio-

nado and the curious onlooker. It never took itself too seriously and this helped

convey a sense of culture sampling that resonates with everyday people. [11]

The less serious sense that Tiki conveys provides everyday consumers whohave adopted and grown the subcultural form with an opportunity to make it their

own. Tiki is, characteristically, a remixed form. It draws on stereotypes of culture,

appropriates them, and creates a new hybrid form that is a somewhat collective re-sult of the many members of Tiki subculture. For those unfamiliar with Tiki cul-

ture, it may appear to be a kitsch construction, but for those intimately involved in

it, it is a highly personalized, fun, and imaginative release from everyday life. What

is key is that develops in a personalized way and this, unlike the forms of culture

sampling of the past, demonstrates that the forms of sampling and admixtures

common to themed entertainment do not have to be developed solely as branded,

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corporate forms. Much along these lines and in parallels with technological sam-

pling in music and video (including machinima), Tiki demonstrates a normativity;

that is, a sense of certain values that are shared within the subculture. These val-

uespartially derived from the cultural forms that are appropriatedboth help to

solidify the material renderings of Tiki in private bars in the homes of aficionadosas well as solidify the communitarian values of the same people. Cultural theorists

have written of this particular phenomenon of normativity that accompanies the

personalizing characteristics of new media and convergence culture. [12] Clearly,

the issue of normativity is a subjective area, especially in political senses. To draw

analogy with the world of technological sampling, as more and more forms of mu-

sical sampling become available for mass consumption, there is a sense of nostal-

gia in some artistic communities for the lost avant-garde and subcultural past. Just

as in the case of cultural cool huntingin which cool hunters go out and sample

the subcultural trends of the present, only to make them the consumerist trends of

the futurethere is a sensibility that the popularization of technological sampling

has diminished the normative and political potentials that have often been associ-

ated with the older forms. [13]

The worlds of historical reconstruction may be considered, by some, to bemuch more serious in their use of theming as compared to the worlds of Tiki cul-

ture. Like Tiki, historical reconstruction is a highly personalized form of thematic

reenactment of the past, but quite different is the sense to which traditionand a

very political form of itis a highly desired quality. There are numerous forms of

historical reconstruction that range in thematic approach (Civil War, World War

II, indigenous cultures, Arthurian legends, and other variations), in the degree to

which the re-enactors attend to the authenticity of their reconstruction, and in the

level at which the participants psychologically connect with the cultures, historicalperiods, and people that they are mimicking. [14] What is universal in all reenact-

ment communities is a reliance on the important factor of tradition as part and

parcel of the historical reconstruction.

Tradition takes many forms in historical reconstruction. In some cases itcould be an actor who studies at the most extensive level the history, culture, and

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politics of a key era that they are reenacting and then utilizes this knowledge as

part of his or her performance and role playing. It could be a debate that ensues

between two members of a reenactment community about whether one of the

members should have died earlier than he did in a battle. What these and many

other scenarios illustrate is the extent to which members of thematic reenactmentcommunities will contest the accuracy, authenticity, even existential aspects of the

reenactment activities. Tradition is a powerful extension of the sorts of culture

sampling that were evident at worlds expositions, amusement parks, and theme

parks. Not unlike Tiki and the issue of personalization, the sense of connection

that historical reenactors posit between themselves, other actors, and the cultures,

history, and people that are the antecedents of the dramas indicates that there is

much more than a sampling and restaging of cultures and places. Participants in

these dramas very often believe the entirety of the reenacted world and, in some

cases, develop incredibly deep relationships to the worlds, people, and events in the

dramas. [15]

The ways in which theme parks, themed spaces, and forms of historical recon-struction have advanced culture sampling are due, in no small part, to the power-

ful ways that the remaking of places, people, and historical events have been narra-

tivized, personalized, and been bound to traditions. What these three cases empha-

size is the ways in which certain tendencies within the cosmology of culture sam-

pling have acted as power centers or batteries through which the potentialities

of culture sampling are stored, released, and reworked. Because people involved in

contemporary forms of culture sampling have made things their ownthis in

large contrast to the passivity through which they experience the samples of the

past in worlds expositions and amusement parksthey are better able to relate to

the places that they visit, the people and events that they encounter, and the con-cepts, values, and existential projections that are evident in their themed cultural

worlds. They are, in a sense, better DJs of culture and place. [16]

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disconnected by geography, history and culture. Yet, in other cases within rap mu-

sic and other sampled music, this tendency is not the case. Just as some theme park

designers delight in the use of an iconic geographical or cultural form in a new,

perhaps illicit way, many sample musicians relish the idea of creating greater re-

move of a sample as it is transformed with filtering and processing into its new ver-sion. These similar tendencies from these two worlds offer insights about the future

directions of all forms of sampling.

One of the most profound of the tendencies of culture and technological sam-

pling is the interesting hybridity that will likely bring these two worlds closer to-

gether. More and more, place is being conceptually deconstructed and rearticu-

lated as a hybrid form. Designers of themed spaces are utilizing literal and concep-

tual inspirations from the worlds of musical and video sampling to transform the

sense of place that visitors experience. Music and video artists are more com-

monly drawing on place and culture associations to create new compositions that

both extend the creative act of their sampling and offer new senses of what a

place or culture really is. Such envisioning will likely lead to new critical conceptu-

alizations of place, culture, and mediathe most important of which may be the

jettisoning of the idea of pure, unencumbered place like This is the real Paris or

the notion of a pure, genetic sample (which has ironically occurred with the hyper

appropriation of the Amen Break).

A second tendency is the further breakdown of the original and the copy.One reaction to the proliferation of postmodern tendencies in culture of the sort

described by Jean Baudrillard, Walter Benjamin, and Jean-Franois Lyotard is an

everyday call back to the real and the authentic. [21] In place of listening to

an amalgamation of artists, sounds, and styles by Girl Talk one could attend anearly music concert in which the artists have replicated, as closely as possible, the

authentic tunings, intonations, and voicings characteristic of the period and in

place of visiting the simulated sights, sounds, and other sensory re-creations of a

themed Parisian casino in Las Vegas, one could travel to Paris, perhaps even go off

the beaten path, and get a sense of how the place really is. Both of these reac-

tions to the confusion of originals and copies in the two worlds of sampling are

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problematic, particularly as they assume that the original state of a form is tran-

scendent, without previous semiotic and cultural association. [22] Further explora-

tions in the two worlds of sampling will result in future breakdown of archaic no-

tions of originals and copieswhether places or soundsand will encourage

greater awareness of the interesting intertextual forms that will continue to trans-form the world and those in it. [23]

A final tendency is, potentially, the most significant. What began as the initial influ-

ences in culture and technological samplingwhether in the panoramic vistas of

the Worlds Columbian Exposition or the curious juxtaposed sounds characteristic

of Musique Concrtewere forms that were decidedly undemocratic and hierar-

chical. Visitors to the worlds exposition or listeners to early experimental music

could not act on the re-made forms that had been presented to them. They were,

passively, asked to take it in and to appreciate it. Today, this situation has changed

dramatically. In the case of contemporary theming in its many forms, individuals

have the ability to determine the course of the sampling. As with Tiki, a fan of the

themed form may decide what the latest versionand all the versions after that

will be. The same case can be understood in musical and video sampling. Low-

cost audio and video production software and hardware have resulted in the possi-

bility of a user/artist expressing re-presentations of previous versions in unique

and potentially personal ways. This is not to say that these new more democratic

versions of sampling practices are, necessarily, without critique. It would be a mis-

take to assumeperhaps as some have taken Lawrence Lessigs provocative theses

on copyright and remixing culture too much to heartthat this tendency (and the

two previous) ones will result in new culture- and technology-based forms that are

without reproach. In fact, the shared future of culture sampling and technological

sampling will, no doubt, result in more users of place and technology realizingthat the world that they share is encumbered by complex, problematic, and poten-

tially empowering forms of remixing.

Notes[1] For these and other images from the exposition, see The Dream City: A Portfolio of Photographic Views of the

Worlds Columbian Exposition (St. Louis: N.D. Thompson, 1893).

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[2] For more on the historical significance of the cabinet of curiosities see Oliver Impey and Arthur MacGre-

gor, The Origins of Museums: The Cabinet of Curiosities in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century Europe (Cornwall, UK:

House of Stratus Ltd, 2001).

[3] Not unlike some of the suggestions made in this research, Bredekamp offers the idea that the cabinet of curi-

osities paved the way for future developments like the cyberspaces of the Internet. Horst Bredekamp, The Lure of

Antiquity andthe Cult of the Machine: The Kunstkammer and the Evolution of Nature, Art, and Technology (Princeton: Mar-

cus Weiner, 1995).[4] For more on the nature of Primitivism, see William Rubin (ed.) Primitivism in 20th Century Art: Affinity of the

Tribal and the Modern (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1984) and for more on the critiques of this artistic

movement, Sally Price, Primitive Art in Civilized Places (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1989) and Mari-

anna Torgovnick, Gone Primitive: Savage Intellects, Modern Lives (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990).

[5] For additional insights on the relationships of worlds expositions and theme parks see, Scott A. Lukas,

How the Theme Park Got Its Power: The Worlds Fair as Cultural Form, in Celia Pearce et. al. (eds.)Meet Me

at the Fair: A Worlds Fair Reader(Pittsburgh: ETC Press, 2013).

[6] Most important in this use of culture is the identification that culture sampling relies on the use and re-use

of what are considered the foundations of culture as understood in classic anthropological definitions of the con-

cept. These include geography and place, material culture (architecture, design, technology, and related forms),behaviors and folkways of people, key symbols and forms of language, values and norms, and aspects of con-

sciousness, thought, and cognition.

[7] One of the interesting developments within remix culture is the idea that sampling is more than a technologi-

cal or aesthetic practiceit is one of many building blocks for a new remix movement that reflects new politi-

cal, social, and existential sensibilities. This has been suggested by Paul Miller (DJ Spooky) in his work and by

Brett Gaylor in the documentary filmRiP!: A Remix Manifesto, among other sources.

[8] For further discussions of theming see Scott A. Lukas (ed.) The Themed Space: Locating Culture, Nation, and Self

(Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2007).

[9] Quite significant in the themed spaces crystallization of culture sampling is the establishment of brands as

narrative amalgams of culture sampling. For more on the practicalities of the brand and theming see, Scott A.Lukas, The Immersive Worlds Handbook: Designing Theme Parks and Consumer Spaces (Burlington, MA: Focal, 2013),

Chapter 6.

[10] One interesting aspect of everyday theming is the theme party in which people design parties for their

friends around an evocative theme. For more, Rena Kirdar Sindi,Be My Guest: Theme Party Savoir-Faire (New

York: Assouline, 2002), Derek Foster, Wii're Here for a Good Time: The Sneaky Rhetoric of Wii-Themed Par-

ties, The Journal of American Culture, 33(1), 2010.

[11] There has been a notable growth in the popularity of Tiki theming. There is now a publication, TikiMaga-

zine (http://www.tikimagazine.com/shop.html), and a number of fan conventions that reflect this growth.

[12] A significant issue in this regard is the growth of fan and participatory culture and media convergence. For

more on these trends, see Henry Jenkins, Convergence, in Lukas, The Immersive Worlds Handbook, 245-247,Henry Jenkins, Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide (New York: New York University Press, 2008),

and Frank Rose, The Art of Immersion: How the Digital Generation Is Remaking Hollywood, Madison Avenue, and the Way

We Tell Stories (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2012).

[13] One example of how this has occurred is found in the world of dubstep. One suggestion has been that dub-

step has been transformed from being a fringe, avant-garde phenomenon to a more mainstream, popular cul-

ture form. See David Paul Strohecker and Ibalu Dwan, The Popularization of Dubstep, The Society Pages,

http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2012/01/21/the-popularization-of-dubstep-full-essay-parts-1-and-2/

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[14] For more on the interesting dynamics of historical reconstruction from the re-enactors standpoint, see Lu-

kas, The Immersive Worlds Handbook, 107-112.

[15] This topic relates to the idea of lived theming or the very close associations that some reenactors or visi-

tors to themed spaces experience. See Scott A. Lukas, How the Theme Park Gets Its Power: Lived Theming,

Social Control, and the Themed Worker Self, in The Themed Space: Locating Culture, Nation, and Self(Lanham,

MD: Lexington Books, 2007).

[16] Additional tendencies that have not been explored in this research due to space limitations include:biology/recombination (the idea that many of the tendencies of sampling are rooted in biological and genetic

processes); desire (or, as an extension of personalization, the idea that culture sampling is aided by the ways in

which deeply motivated individuals attach forms of desire to their practices of culture sampling); the body (the

ways in which culture sampling developments are influenced by the embeddedness of practices in the bodies of

the participants; not unlike the ways in which subwoofers impact aficionados of dub step); materiality (or the

ways in which certain exceptional design and material forms allow for deeper connections between individu-

als and forms of culture sampling; an example here is the relationship of the motivations of an individual inter-

ested in steampunk are connected to an exquisite steampunk themed table); and existential issues (or further ex-

tensions of the ideas suggested in the historical reconstruction section of the research; an example is the topic of

authenticity and the degree to which members of motorcycle clubs envision their participation in terms of exis-tential notions of the self). These power centers will hopefully be explored in subsequent research.

[17] A vexing issue for theorists of culture is the degree to which aspects or tendencies like those of sampling

can be connected to historical forms that have given rise to the contemporary tendencies. It would be a mistake

to search for unencumbered roots between the tendencies of culture and technological sampling that have

been addressed in this study. The notion of organic forms, in which an earlier version directly impacts a later

one, is problematic at both the theoretical level in which these forms are analyzed by the critic and at the phe-

nomenological level in which these forms are experienced by people in the everyday world. An idea that Sieg-

fried Kracauer offered was to analyze culture at the level of its surface expressions and thus the connections

between forms appear to understood through the metaphor of the rhizome, as opposed to the tree and roots.

For more on how this may be applied to the relationships of theme parks and themed spaces, see Scott A. Lu-kas, Theme Park(London: Reaktion, 2008).

[18] Online etymology dictionary. http://www.etymonline.com

[19] For more on the curious cultural and political histories of the Amen Break, see Seven Seconds of Fire:

How a Short Burst of Drumming Changed the Face of Music. The Economist, 17 December 2011, Nate Harri-

son, Can I Get An Amen? (documentary project), http://nkhstudio.com/pages/amen_mp4.html and History

of the Amen Break, BBC 1Xtra (radio feature), http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011nyd1

[20] Tricia Rose,Black Noise: Rap Music and Black Culture in Contemporary America (Hanover: Wesleyan University

Press, 1994), 73.

[21] As Andrew Potter offers, contemporary attempts to achieve the authentic are themselves fraught with

constant disappointment in part due to the fact that a consumer can no longer recognize a truly authentic expe-rience from a simulated one that appears authentic. Andrew Potter, The Authenticity Hoax: How We Get Lost Finding

Ourselves (New York: Harper, 2010).

[22] Both forms of the sampling considered in this research suggest an advocacy of the foundational work of

Jacques Derrida, most notably his critique of the transcendental signifier. For more on the problematic notions

of originality and a critique of Walter Benjamins interpretations of originality, see Bruno Latour and Adam

Lowe, The Migration of the Aura, or How to Explore the Original through Its Facsimiles,FACTUM arte,

http://www.factum-arte.com/eng/texts/switching_codes.asp The problematic notions of originals and copies

also come up in the interesting world of film and video game remakes; see Scott A. Lukas and John Marmysz

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http://www.factum-arte.com/eng/texts/switching_codes.asphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011nyd1http://nkhstudio.com/pages/amen_mp4.htmlhttp://www.etymonline.com/http://www.factum-arte.com/eng/texts/switching_codes.asphttp://www.factum-arte.com/eng/texts/switching_codes.asphttp://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011nyd1http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b011nyd1http://nkhstudio.com/pages/amen_mp4.htmlhttp://nkhstudio.com/pages/amen_mp4.htmlhttp://www.etymonline.com/http://www.etymonline.com/


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(eds.) Fear, Cultural Anxiety, and Transformation: Horror, Science Fiction, and Fantasy Films Remade (Lanham, MD: Lexing-

ton Books, 2010).

[23] The issues of intertextualitysuggested in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin and Grard Genetteare impor-

tant dimensions of future considerations of this research.

culture sampling

Documents