“Praxis, a noble activity, is always one of use, as distinct from poesis which designates fabrication. Only the former, which plays and acts, but does not produce, is noble.” [1] (p. 101)

19th century collage cards, care of Nick Haus.

There is a tension between “making stuff” (poesis) and “using stuff” (praxis). Peer production, as the name indicates, is about “making stuff.” And making stuff can be fun.  But we should also ask ourselves, how much new stuff do we really need?  There’s not a hard and fast answer to that.  We should also consider how much “learning” is really “remix” — that is, re-use and recycling of other people’s ideas and techniques.

Understanding and negotiating the tension between reuse and creativity is the key to the art of remix or “paragogical praxis”!

Reference

1. Baudrillard, J. (1975). The mirror of production. Telos Press