What Is Pop Culture Pirate?

Pop Culture Pirate is Elisa Kreisinger, a video artist based in Brooklyn. Her latest work includes remixing Mad Men into feminists and The Real Housewives into lesbians.

Her work has been featured in galleries, museums and festivals throughout the US and Europe including Anthology Film Archive (NYC), Interstate Projects (Brooklyn), SxSW, Museum of Film and TV (Berlin) and MIP Cube (France).  A prominent voice in the remix and online video community since 2006, Elisa speaks at university campuses, including USC, MIT and Harvard, and at industry events throughout the world. Her success engaging female audiences online has lead to collaborations with NBC, Paramount Pictures, Art 21, Eileen Fisher, Women Make Movies, the Women’s Media Center and Origin Magazine.

An advocate and activist, Elisa works with Harvard’s Berkman Center for Internet and Society, American University’s Center for Social Media and the Electronic Frontier Foundation to continue to pave the way for a mash up-friendly web that acknowledges creators rights under US Copyright Law’s Fair Use provision.

Why a Pirate?

“Women who are Pirates in a phallocentric society are involved in a complex operation. First, it is necessary to Plunder — that is, righteously rip off — gems of knowledge that the patriarchs have stolen from us. Second, we must Smuggle back to other women our Plundered treasures. In order to invert strategies that will be big and bold enough for the next millennium, it is crucial that women share our experiences: the chances we have taken and the choices that have kept us alive. They are my Pirate’s battle cry and wake-up call for women who I want to hear.”  -Mary Daly