Change echoes

December 29, 2019

Where will technology take the experience of visual and auditory arts?

As we cross into another decade, the way we express ourselves is undergoing certain fundamental changes, which simultaneously question the various parameters we assign to the classification of a work and its form.

Conventional cinema is on the verge of a catastrophic change. Leading directors like Mark Spielberg and Martin Scorsese have been saying that they are at the end of their careers, finding difficulty in continuing to make films. This points not only to their creative juices drying up, but also that cinema as a form is undergoing fundamental changes in its nature.

How do you feel knowing, that the singers and musicians you see and hear are not real people? One of Japan’s biggest pop stars Hatsune Miku is not a real person. Yet this crucial piece of information did not prevent the humanoid singer from releasing music videos. Even the duets of Roy Orbison, who died in 1988, come to life at his 3D hologram world tours alongside the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Previously, film was a finished art product shown to audiences in the darkness of an auditorium or cinema house. Darkness ensured seclusion and separation from the humdrum considered extraneous to the cinema experience. Total absorption from the audience was a requisite, distractions were perceived as interference with the totality of the experience.

The first assault on this totality was by television, a gadget, viewed without rules which ensured its sanctity. While cooking, eating meals and even cleaning, it was no more than the amelioration of a boring chore.

This ‘sanctity’ was violated even more in countries like Pakistan where the entire cinematic experience revolved around viewing banned Indian films on VCRs and DVDs in the ‘safety’ of one’s own house. The small screen totally undermined the cinema experience because it changed everything which was into eating into the basis of cinematography and the essence of cinema. Viewing it all on small screen was totally different; mutilated, truncated, reduced and snapped.

With the advent of technology however, it is also increasingly possible that audiences do not project their own expectations but let artificial intelligence do it.

Language became increasingly irrelevant, limited only to the storyline and the sequence of events. The films could be fast forwarded, rewound, skipped, paused, switched off or viewed in parts thus violating the cardinal rule of it being a unified experience.

This attitude, focused on convenience, has destroyed cinema. Netflix and related streaming services are making cinema houses irrelevant and audiences have gotten into the habit of treating cinema as something that fits into their schedule, rather than making time in their schedule for something significant.

Similarly theatre audiences use mobile phones to give instant feedback to action on stage. This feedback is instantly taken and action on stage changes and creatively adapts action on stage, accordingly. Television serials are now made in parts, so audience opinions can be fitted into how the serial will progress. These audiences are active participants and can be seen as co-authors and co-creators. It all plays into their expectations.

With the advent of technology however, it is also increasingly possible that audiences do not project their own expectations but let artificial intelligence (AI) do it. It is like handing over our destiny to the machine, a fear that has saddled progress, particularly since the inception of the Industrial Revolution.

In the recent past, interactive theatre was when audiences were physically invited to be part of the action. The action would be taken to the people and they were solicited for views on how the action should develop. But these days live-feeds of audience reactions and reception can influence the action on stage. This may be called immersive, as it allows audiences to creep under the writer or director’s skin, earlier deemed as forbidden areas. Artists “tokenise” themselves, which is to say, let fans use crypto-currency to invest and be shareholders in their future revenue. Block chain technology can set a direct line from creator to consumer, without issues of piracy, in fact send out exclusives without being traded or shared in any way. Hence the audience becomes a shareholder, if not producer. Soon virtual and augmented reality alongside 3D mapping could mean that they will become more interactive than ever before. The kind of visuals and production that goes on today, is quite out of this world. 3D mapping manipulates the look and feel of a 3D object.

Making music used to be actually working together and evolving a piece of music. It was the result of a shared vision, joint aesthetic and output that flowed from the collective pool of artistic resources. But these days musicians don’t actually meet one another – they could be in different cities, thousands of miles apart, in different continents and time zones.

It used to be a room with a bunch of people and eye contact. But now musicians are on iPads, due to technological advancement, everyone has a powerful recording studio in their laptops.

Where will technology lead visual and auditory arts to in 2019?