Punchdrunk and how to "Sleep No More"
/Felix Barrett and Maxine Doyle, from the British troupe Punchdrunk, discuss creating the interpretive, interactive theater piece “Sleep No More.” Over 100 rooms are on display in a renovated space in New York’s Chelsea gallery district, and accompanied by an eerie soundtrack, masked audience members walk at through the rooms, where performers re-enact scenes from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”
I've spent most of my life marketing, producing and supporting the arts, in particular dance. I am also a technology-loving nerd, sharing a lot online, currently working with digital development teams. We talk about augmented reality and social networking and everything being media, but none of that compares to what "Sleep No More" accomplishes.
In short, this production is the most extraordinary and wonderful (in the true, honest sense of both words) that I've experienced in recent years, if not in my whole life.
It is wordless Shakespeare, living film noire, the best of contemporary dance, true augmented reality, masterful storytelling, respectful homage, detailed design, adult entertainment (by which I mean it provokes thought beyond the nudity that it does have, which is more like the nudes in paintings by masters,) and that is not even taking in consideration the technical requirements needed to produce and perform such a "play" every night.
Kirby Ferguson is right, everything is a remix, and Punchdrunk have taken the performing arts and remixed them creating something completely new, yet familiar, and absolutely spellbinding.
How Do We Create Cultures of Creativity: Festival of Ideas (Video)
/via youtube.com
From The Festival of Ideas 2011, Paola Antonelli moderates a discussion with Gary Carter & John Maeda.
The Elements of Creativity: Everything is a Remix Part 3
/“We are all building with the same materials”
Kirby Ferguson’s four-part series exploring the influence of remixing in the creation of new works continues with Part 3: The Elements of Creativity. (View Part 1 and Part 2.) To find out more about this brilliant series, see a complete list of references and support Kirby’s time-consuming efforts visit everythingisaremix.info. Part 4, coming soon, will address the legal ramifications of remixing.
Study: People who engage in cultural events are less stressed
/Cultured People Feel Less Stress
People who go to museums and concerts or create art or play an instrument are more satisfied with their lives, a study finds.
Researchers led by Koenraad Cuypers of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology analyzed information culled from 50,797 adults living in Norway's Nord-Trondelag County.
The participants were asked detailed questions about their leisure habits and how they perceived their own state of health, satisfaction with life and levels of depression and anxiety.
The results were unambiguous and somewhat unexpected: not only was the correlation strong between cultural activities and happiness, but men felt better when they were spectators while women clearly preferred doing rather than watching.
Even more surprising was that wealth and education were not an issue.
via Discovery News