Back in the 19th century a lot of people thought that all the great discoveries had been made, and that we had reached scientific plateau. They turned out to be wrong.
How true would it be to say that artistically it has all been done?
I mean that no-one is ever going to fool around with their guitar and invent the riff at the beginning of Voodoo Chile (slight return). It’s been done. Coming up with new names for new products is becoming increasingly difficult. There are no exciting new hairstyles. Where is the next Picasso?
[quote=“stragbasher”]Back in the 19th century a lot of people thought that all the great discoveries had been made, and that we had reached scientific plateau. They turned out to be wrong.
How true would it be to say that – artistically-- it has all been done?
I mean that no-one is ever going to fool around with their guitar and invent the riff at the beginning of ‘‘Voodoo Chile’’ (slight return). It’s been done. Coming up with new names for new products is becoming increasingly difficult. There are no exciting new hairstyles.
Where is the next Picasso?[/quote]
Good question, stragbasher. But you know, just like the folks back in the 19th Cen, we’re gonna be surprised by all the new things coming our way.
Go back to 1989ish and talk about this Internet thingy - how much change do we take for granted?
My Grandmother lived to 97 and experienced the invention of wireless, television, antibiotics, heart transplants, colour cinema, satellites, cell phones, cheese in a can, powered flight, Lethal Weapon 4, jazz, rockets to the moon, Dadaism, Surrealism, Cubism, Post-modernism, post-post-modernism, flares, computers, Bj
The defining characteristic of art is that it is deliberate. As long as people are deliberately placing things next to each other in new ways and for some intended effect, there will be no end to it. New technologies just give us more ways to innovate. My guess is that, artistically, we have only just begun.
Yeah, by Earl Hooker and before him by (I think) Bukka White. So yeah, even by Jimi’s time it seemed there was nothing new under the sun. But look at now – we’ve got the Backstreet Boys and techno.
I was reading where Fred Forsyth (Dogs of War) claims there is a new genre of spy-thriller emerging as a result of global terrorism. Modern Dance is exploring its own theatricality and Barishnikov was a guest of Sex And The City pulling off a grande jette en arabesque over a pile of NYC trash at the age of 53. Installation Art and Agit Prop Theatre are all stretching the boundaries their predecessors defined with flash mobbing becoming the medium. Much like audiences were shocked by the 'realism" of Strindberg’s Miss Julie, I am sure there are shocking days ahead for us. Michael Moore is redefining docu-drama and using art for political gain (or trying to). How about “slam-poetry” and rap music? Architecture? That anti-earthquake ball in 101 surely is meritorious of mention? How about electronics? Gamers around the world are rejoicing about Halo2. When 3D platforms become affordable, whole new realms of creation will be discovered. Could Lord of the Rings been so ably handled 20 years ago? 10? The discoveries in and applications of CGI are unfathomable. I have heard of attempts to create Halographic Theatre…should give a whole new twist to Hamlet’s ghost.
Just some thoughts…
If you argue for your limitations, sure enough, they are yours.
