This weekend I had the privilege to go see Blue Man Group for the first time. The experience was incredible, Blue Man Group is hilarious among being quite a party. Being in such a unique concert and the Blue Man Group's video voice over helped me to understand and appreciate how technology has progressed not just in efficiency, but into an art form.
During the show there is a segment discussing how animation has reached a new level of sophistication. In our parent's age, yes, they had animation like Mickey Mouse in black and white, but nothing compared to today. Movies like Monster's Inc, Finding Nemo, and the Incredibles (among other Pixar movies) have exceeded expectations in technological art. The video, displayed on a screen with shaving cream that in itself was quite a technological confusion for the audience (I'm still trying to comprehend how they achieved the display), explained how animation has improved over the ages. In the beginning of time historians and anthropologists believe that the cave drawings of animals that are superimposed on another were animated through the flicker of the fire light. From that, came animation. Now a days, we don't just use individual pictures flipped like in a flip book; we use computers.
Technology has made way for new art forms that are expressed in the Blue Man Group's performance. At one part of the show, the Blue Man Group each hold up signs with words going across them (message boards? I can't quite remember the word for them). Each have different phrases and sayings and then they become the drum sticks. It was so incredible! Though in my last blog post, I question if our society has become too reliant on technology and how it is not always good, the Blue Man Group opened my eyes to yet another point of view: art.
However, Blue Man Group is not all happy with technology also. During the animation segment, there is a sign that says, "Internet Cafe" and it goes on to show a stick figure man with coffee in front of his laptop. The voice over is sarcastic and explains how wonderful the Internet cafe is where you can sit quietly in a room full of people talking to people who aren't there, though there are people existing all around you. It was very funny and I couldn't help but think of American Studies.
3 comments:
I've been reading a bunch of people's blogs, and i find it really interesting that so many of us are questioning whether or not the new technologies we have are good for us or not. While in many was i believe that they are not, i do think that in terms of the arts, technology has done amazing things. Everything from movies with the computer generated effects to music with full orchestras created with just a computer. I think that the new technologies for art are great, for they allow more people the resources to get their feet off the ground and express themselves to the rest of the world
that is very interesting that the blue man group animated an internet cafe...the thought that human beings are all sitting the same room and not interacting is kind of saddening..i've never thought of this situation but I agree that technology is taking away from our countries advancement in human communites and interactions
I really liked your input on this Bari. We had been exploring different advantages and disadvantages to technology but I never thought about Technology in the form of art. It's so true that as time has passed technologies have created more and more forms of art. When the camera was invented the art of photography was too, when motion pictures were invented there were incredible new ways to tell stories and this is definitely an art. And now that we're in the digital age we're getting to be able to create art much easier. Look how easy it is to create a song on garage band. This could open up a whole other door about if technology is making us less adept at art, but I think I'll end my comment here and save people a couple minutes of their life.
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