Media 3 – Project 1
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Oopsies…. Late Blog 4
Today I ask the question – How is popular culture apart of our everyday life and who is involved?
The popular online and print magazine, Broadsheet, is a clear example of how popular culture plays a role in everyday life. People can subscribe and receive updates, read, watch and listen to information that is included in the magazine. Stacy Takacs states that one of the definitions of culture is that “it identifies culture as a process we participate in, rather than a static body of knowledge we possess (or fail to possess).” This magazine definitely forces the audience to participate, by linking websites that relate to the article, or including pictures and music which captivates the audience.
This idea of an online magazine that involves the audience and has articles which interest a wide range of people is becoming very popular. There are many other websites such as Pedestrian and Three Thousand. People spend much more time reading the news on the internet these days than reading a printed copy of the newspaper or magazines. However questioning who the people (audience) are of ‘popular culture’ and how we identify them can make things tricky… Do we have to group all ‘popular culture people’ together? Can’t they come from all different types of social groups yet still be engaged in some things that full under the popular culture category?
Takacs, S. (2015). Interrogating Popular Culture: Key Questions, “What is Popular Culture?” (Chapter One), Routledge: New York, pp. 1-17.
Creative Essay
We’re more and more into communications and less and less into communication.
Studs Terkel
Since a young age I have been involved with theatre and have a passion for it. In the beginning I wanted to be an actress, however after working backstage on various school productions I grew to love that side of theatre. When I began to write this essay I decided I wanted to explore the movement of theatre and how technology has an influence on it.
The art of theatre has been around since sometime during the 6th century BC, beginning in Greece. Since then, different traditions of performance have moved across the world being influenced by other cultures. Theatre creates a world that people can escape to. They can forget about reality for the time being, filling themselves with the stories that they are telling or are being told. Technology hasn’t always played a role in the art of theatre, however lately that has been changing, with more and more incorporation of the internet and technology being present.
Speaking to my mum about the influence of technology on theatre, she mentioned that she can now go onto the MTC homepage or other theatre company websites and watch trailers for certain plays. The trailers might be exactly like a film trailer, or it might give the viewer some insight to how the production is created, or what is happening behind the scenes. Instead of only reading a short synopsis on the play or wait until you are seated, about to watch the performance, the viewers are able to have a clearer understanding on what show they want to see and the workings of it. This is an element that has only been introduced in the past ten years, but it continues to grow.
A current play by the Malthouse Theatre’s 2013 female director-in residence, Roslyn Oades called Hello, Goodbye & Happy Birthday continues to utilise her ‘Headphone Verbatim & Audio Scripting’ that she is well known for. This technique was first introduced by British director, Mark Wing-Davey. On her website, Roslyn Oades, it states that since 2001, Oades has created performances using “carefully constructed audio recordings”. Her process involves an “extensive collection phase, during which she draws material from a variety of audio sources including interview, media and found recordings.” Throughout the performance, her technique entails the actors to wear headphones, in which they are fed an audio-script. The actors recite the script as immediately as possible, like a musician following a music score. This includes every stutter, cough, pause and stumble. The end result that Oades wishes to have, is “a hyper-natural form of documentary theatre that evokes the essence of the audio source with fidelity”, regardless of the gender, age, or race of the original speaker.
This technique is a direct example to how technology is becoming involved in theatre. Without it, the ‘Headphone Verbatim & Audio Scripting’ would not be possible. I have never seen a play that incorporates this technique, however I believe that it would be an incredible interesting and rewarding performance to watch. In an article written by Caroline Wake, titled The Politics and Poetics of Listening: Attending Headphone Verbatim Theatre in Post-Cronulla Australia, it states that audience members have said that the effect is “somewhere between acting, ‘being’, and possession.” As we can assume, being in the audience would be a different experience to being in the audience of a regular theatre show. Instead of completely connecting with the performers, the audience has to somewhat ignore the headphones yet know that they are a crucial part of the play.
In an article I read on The Guardian, the author Chris Willkinson questions whether the internet is killing theatre. He states that Michiko Kakutani believes that the internet has “helped create a culture with attention-deficit disorder in which people will ‘tweet and text one another during plays and movies, forming judgements before seeing the arc of the entire work’”. This is a fascinating idea because the common thought on using phones during a show is that it is rude to the performers. However with Kakutani’s view in mind, perhaps this will force the actors to work harder, capturing and maintaining the audience’s attention, knowing that in two seconds their attitude towards the show could potentially be influenced by a text message.
Theatre is no longer a controlled space. It is not just defined to the stage. It can be outside the room, through headphone or on the internet. All theatre has two elements that are the same – there are actors and there is an audience. However now that the internet is becoming a regular part of the theatre world, the way that the audience interacts with the actors may change. For example, on Mashable.com Joann Pan writes about New Paradise Laboratories which is a company based in Philedelphia in the United States. The ‘about’ page on their website states that they “imagine theatre as a visionary experience”. The companies connectivity coordinator, Katy Otto, says that NPL had a major interest in making theatre that would appeal to people who weren’t participating in theatre but were “heavily influenced by the internet.” In their production and presentation stage, they incorporate social media sites, letting the stories evolve from there and “it can be hard to decipher what’s real and what’s fiction” says Pan.
In 2011, NPL created a play called Extremely Public Displays of Privacy, in which the three acts were available online. Additionally, they included geolocation technology where a character from the play guided the audience member through a park. There was a forty five minute sound file that gave you the guided tour, or alternatively online audience members could go onto YouTube and take a virtual walk online. By allowing the audience to interact through the internet, it achieves exactly what Katy Otto desired. People can follow the plays story whilst sitting at home, or they can get out into the real world and continue to follow the story through headphones, however the final act of the play is performed in ‘real-time’ at a theatre in Philadelphia which brings everyone together to witness the end.
But what does everyone think about the influence of technology on theatre? Do theatre critics believe it is a good movement? Is it an expensive feature that doesn’t necessarily need to be incorporated? I believe that technology in theatre is an important element. It opens many more doors and gives the cast and crew opportunities to work in different fields and give the audience a performance they will never forget. There will always be positives and negatives in these situations yet people will learn to accept different thoughts and learn to trust that as long as theatre still exists, it will only to continue to grow and change.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Roslyn Oades, Headphone Verbatim & Audio Scripting, viewed on the 20th of October 2014, http://www.roslynoades.com/Technique.html
Wikipedia, last modified on 22nd October 2014, History of Theatre, viewed on the 23rd October 2014, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_theatre
Chris Wilkinson, 1st April 2010, Noises Off: Is the internet killing the theatre show?, The Guardian, viewed on 18th of October 2014, http://www.theguardian.com/stage/theatreblog/2010/mar/31/internet-theatre-twitter-texting
Christophe Collard, 2014, Remediating New Media, Staging Hypertext, Hot Metal Bridge, published by Writing MFA Students at the University of Pittsburgh, viewed on the 20th of October 2014, http://hotmetalbridge.org/archivelinks/return-to-earth/remediating-new-media-staging-hypertext/
Joann Pan, 25th March 2012, Internet-Based Theater Company Lives Between Cyberspace and the Stage, Mashable, viewed on the 21st October 2014, http://mashable.com/2012/03/24/new-paradise-laboratories/
Wake C, 2014, The Politics and Poetics of Listening: Attending Headphone Verbatim Theatre in Post-Cronulla Australia, in Theatre Research International, Vol. 39, No. 2, p. 82-100
Wake C, 2014, Voices that Matter: Performance, Technology and Sociology in the work of Roslyn Oades, in Acts of Courage, by Roslyn Oades
IMAGES AND VIDEO
National Theatre Discover, 13th March 2014, A guide to creating verbtim theatre, YouTube, found on 23rd October 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-a0qNEhCly4
Jim Napier, 2012, Texting during a movie encouraged by Washington movie theater!, Geektyrant, found on 23rd October 2014, http://geektyrant.com/news/2011/12/6/texting-during-a-movie-encouraged-by-washington-movie-theate.html
MTC, screenshot on 23rd October 2014, http://www.mtc.com.au
Reading Week 9
One of the readings for this week was an excerpt from Albert-László Barabási’s book Linked which introduced the concept of the 80/20 rule. Barabási uses examples such as, “80 percent of Italy’s land was owned by only 20 percent of the population … 80 percent of customer service problems are created by only 20 percent of consumers, 80 percent of decisions are made 20 percent of meeting time” to demonstrate how it applies to numerous societal patterns. He then applies the rule to networks, however the numbers slightly differ.
I’m still trying to get my head around this rule, however Stefan’s idea about relating it to Lentils as Anything allowed me to view this rule in a real life situation.
I will continue to dwell on this rule, trying to apply it to my surroundings!
Symposium 7
What is neutral technology?
Unfortunately I was unable to go to this weeks lecture/symposium but after talking to some friends about what was discussed, this was the question I was left with.
Mitchell explained to me that Adrian used a hammer as an example to discuss the idea that the intended purpose for technologies are mostly irrelevant. It is the way in which it is commonly used which is important as it will have cultural effects. Who knows what the first hammer was created for? There are various models and modes of hammers nowadays, however I believe that the first thought of a hammers use would be for hitting nails.
There would be so many more technologies that were created for one purpose but are instead being used for a multitude 0f others. For instance, duct tape. Created during WW2 when soldiers needed something that would keep there ammunition cases dry. After the war it was suggested by soldiers to be used to hold heating and air-conditioning duct work together. Today, duct tape is used for various things: holding together shoes, books, cover broken windows… etc etc.
I have many questions surrounding this symposium, but first I should probably wrap my head around neutral technology.
Reading Week 7
Even though at the beginning I was sure I would be captivated and entertained throughout David Shields ‘collage’ reading, a few pages in my focus began to falter.
When I googled “collage”, it is described as an “artistic product” and “any collection of diverse things.” Therefore, the order of the paragraphs in this reading should be read in no particular order. However by putting the paragraphs in sequential order theres a sense of hierarchy that you have to follow.
I think that it was an interesting idea for Shields to write his piece on collages in a the form of a collage yet I don’t think it was presented in the best way.
Symposium 6
One of the opening concepts that drew me in was Adrian stating “a word can only mean something by not what it is but by what it is not“. He mentioned semiotics and the large dictionary we have for words and other typical points. However the idea that was emphasised in my mind was who decides what every word means? How does a certain word become a word? A friend had an assignment the other week in which she had to create a 27th letter for the English alphabet and the sound that goes with it. If we included another letter into the alphabet there would be thousands of new words, but who is going to create them?
Another question that Adrian posed was “have we lost all sense of privacy through technology?” I agreed with him on the notion that everything that we post online is 100% public and that we have lost all sense of privacy. For example, the other day I searched my name into google images and pictures of people vines that I have ‘re-vined’ are now under Claudia Nankervis on google images. The thought that just a simple tap on my phone to re-vine a post would then go onto google images, had not crossed through my mind at all. I have always been very cautious of the images that I post online and what I write, but this is another layer that I will have to think about as well.
Another example with internet privacy is the recent leaking of the naked photos of celebrities. Photos they thought would never be seen by anyone else, photos taken in the complete privacy of their home, are now on the internet for everyone and anyone to see. How somebody managed to get their hands on the photos through iCloud I will never understand, but it demonstrates to us that if we send or publish anything online or through the ‘interwebs’, we must be comfortable knowing that it may be seen by anyone in the world.
Black and White
Ironically, as soon as I finished writing the post about film cameras, my friend sent me a link to her recently developed black and white film… here’s a few of my favourite.
Surviving Whole Foods // by Kelly MacLean
Whole Foods is like Vegas. You go there to feel good but you leave broke, disoriented, and with the newfound knowledge that you have a vaginal disease.
Unlike Vegas, Whole Foods’ clientele are all about mindfulness and compassion… until they get to the parking lot. Then it’s war. As I pull up this morning, I see a pregnant lady on the crosswalk holding a baby and groceries. This driver swerves around her and honks. As he speeds off I catch his bumper sticker, which says ‘NAMASTE’. Poor lady didn’t even hear him approaching because he was driving a Prius. He crept up on her like a panther.
As the great, sliding glass doors part I am immediately smacked in the face by a wall of cool, moist air that smells of strawberries and orchids. I leave behind the concrete jungle and enter a cornucopia of organic bliss; the land of hemp milk and honey. Seriously, think about Heaven and then think about Whole Foods; they’re basically the same.
The first thing I see is the great wall of kombucha — 42 different kinds of rotten tea. Fun fact: the word kombucha is Japanese for ‘I gizzed in your tea.’ Anyone who’s ever swallowed the glob of mucus at the end of the bottle knows exactly what I’m talking about. I believe this thing is called “The Mother,” which makes it that much creepier.
Next I see the gluten-free section filled with crackers and bread made from various wheat-substitutes such as cardboard and sawdust. I skip this aisle because I’m not rich enough to have dietary restrictions. Ever notice that you don’t meet poor people with special diet needs? A gluten intolerant house cleaner? A cab driver with Candida? Candida is what I call a rich, white person problem. You know you’ve really made it in this world when you get Candida. My personal theory is that Candida is something you get from too much hot yoga. All I’m saying is if I were a yeast, I would want to live in your yoga pants.
Next I approach the beauty aisle. There is a scary looking machine there that you put your face inside of and it tells you exactly how ugly you are. They calculate your wrinkles, sun spots, the size of your pores, etc. and compare it to other women your age. I think of myself attractive but as it turns out, I am 78 percent ugly, meaning less pretty than 78 percent of women in the world. On the popular 1-10 hotness scale used by males the world over, that makes me a 3 (if you round up, which I hope you will.) A glance at the extremely close-up picture they took of my face, in which I somehow have a glorious, blond porn mustache, tells me that 3 is about right. Especially because the left side of my face is apparently 20 percent more aged than the right. Fantastic. After contemplating ending it all here and now, I decide instead to buy their product. One bottle of delicious smelling, silky feeling creme that is maybe going to raise me from a 3 to a 4 for only $108 which is a pretty good deal when you think about it.
I grab a handful of peanut butter pretzels on my way out of this stupid aisle. I don’t feel bad about pilfering these bites because of the umpteen times that I’ve overpaid at the salad bar and been tricked into buying $108 beauty creams. The pretzels are very fattening but I’m already in the seventieth percentile of ugly so who cares.
Next I come to the vitamin aisle which is a danger zone for any broke hypochondriac. Warning: Whole Foods keeps their best people in this section. Although you think she’s a homeless person at first, that vitamin clerk is an ex-pharmaceuticals sales rep. Today she talks me into buying estrogen for my mystery mustache and Women’s Acidophilus because apparently I DO have Candida after all.
I move on to the next aisle and ask the nearest Whole Foods clerk for help. He’s wearing a visor inside and as if that weren’t douchey enough, it has one word on it in all caps. Yup, NAMASTE. I ask him where I can find whole wheat bread. He chuckles at me “Oh, we keep the poison in aisle 7.” Based solely on the attitudes of people sporting namaste paraphernalia today, I’d think it was Sanskrit for “go fuck yourself.”
I pass the table where the guy invites me to join a group cleanse he’s leading. For $179.99 I can not-eat not-alone… not-gonna-happen. They’re doing the cleanse where you consume nothing but lemon juice, cayenne pepper and fiber pills for 10 days, what’s that one called again? Oh, yeah…anorexia. I went on a cleanse once; it was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, I detoxified, I purified, I lost weight. On the other hand, I fell asleep on the highway, fantasized about eating a pigeon, and crapped my pants. I think I’ll stick with the whole eating thing.
I grab a couple of loaves of poison, and head to checkout. The fact that I’m at Whole Foods on a Sunday finally sinks in when I join the end of the line…halfway down the dog food aisle. I suddenly realize that I’m dying to get out of this store. Maybe it’s the lonely feeling of being a carnivore in a sea of vegans, or the newfound knowledge that some people’s dogs eat better than I do, but mostly I think it’s the fact that Yanni has been playing literally this entire time. Like sensory deprivation, listening to Yanni seems harmless at first, enjoyable even. But two hours in, you’ll chew your own ear off to make it stop.
A thousand minutes later, I get to the cashier. She is 95 percent beautiful. “Have you brought your reusable bags?” Fuck. No, they are at home with their 2 dozen once-used friends. She rings up my meat, alcohol, gluten and a wrapper from the chocolate bar I ate in line, with thinly veiled alarm. She scans my ladies acidophilus, gives me a pitying frown and whispers, “Ya know, if you wanna get rid of your Candida, you should stop feeding it.” She rings me up for $313. I resist the urge to unwrap and swallow whole another $6 truffle in protest. Barely. Instead, I reach for my wallet, flash her a quiet smile and say, “Namaste.”
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Link 2
This is a link to the trailer for my mum’s most recent documentary she made called Tempest at the Drop In.
Synopsis I found on IMDB: An unlikely partnership occurs when a group of professional actors work with members of a psychiatric drop-in center to stage a production of Shakespeare’s the tempest.
It was screened at the Astor Theatre in October 2013 and was bought by the ABC this year. I am incredibly proud of her and think it’s an amazing, inspiring documentary.