One

My video One addresses Metallica’s legacy to the world of digital copyright. The video compiles one hundred perfectly synchronized YouTube® videos of boys and young men showing off their technical mastery of the metal instruments (guitar, drums and bass) as they cover Metallica’s magnum opus One. By taking Metallica’s music as my subject I instantly became suspect of copyright infringement — even though the audio that coincides with the video is not being played by the aging musicians in the celebrity metal band. Instead, the audio track showcases the combined efforts of one hundred passionately involved amateur musicians, each slightly out of tune and out of phase.