Inspired by the viral video of Filipino prisoners dancing to Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Prison Dancer is a new web series due out this May. Dubbed an ‘The Interactive Web Musical’ it is a 12-part series with plans to land on the stage. According to the Huffington Post article, the team which includes Toronto-based director and writer Romeo Candido, Carmen Dejesus, and Ana Serrano, has hopes for the series to be fully participatory with fans learning the songs and dances and posting their own videos.
We are going to see more and more projects like this that move between the web and live events, encourage active participation from fans, and in general exist outside of the traditional broadcast channels.
So I wanted to share this excellent project by Avinash Dabir aka ‘Ballhawk Dabir’. He had the privilege of being selected as a U.S. Open ball boy this year and decided to blog and tweet for his fans.
He even raffled off his ballhawk polo via twitter this past weekend. Can’t wait to see what he plans for next year. Unless of course he goes into retirement.
The meshing of interactivity and live shows is in its infancy. The opportunities for creativity are limitless. The experimental theater realm has been working with large scale interactive performances for awhile now. Theaters like 3LD and Here in NYC consistently push the boundaries and provide spaces where interactivity and live performance can come together. However, seeing this become more mainstream will open doors we have yet to see. Artists, video designers, etc. will be able to get the budgets that will make large scale interactive and innovative projects possible.
Amon Tobin’s set for his newest live show is another example of an innovative and truly beautiful. approach to live performance. Check it out on Verbal 007′s blog . With each of these projects, not only do I hope to see a continuation but a building on these ideas. Can 3d projections not only react to the music but can the interact with the crowd. Can the beach ball’s take on a life of their own after the concert being played or controlled via websites. The expanding of innovation the space of interactive for live performance is only limited by our imagination. Yes, I’m gushing and I’ve decided I don’t care. This is our opportunity to create art that engages people on a truly emotional level. It is beyond looking at a painting or hearing a song. It is about engaging the audience in an experience.
As a resident at the CFC Media Lab, I had the pleasure of developing the ‘Voicings’ project. Voicings is an aural installation that lived in the lobby of the MaRS building from July 28th until Aug. 13th.
Here Nick is listening to the piece. Visitors to the building could pass by the piece as they entered or choose to sit and listen.
Here is what MaRS had to say about the work. “Listen in on a journey of discovery and creation, revealing the human passions and motivations that drive the process of innovation. From the everyday to the truly profound, hear a symphony of voices offering insights into the personalities driving innovation here at MaRS.”
Recently, I have had the opportunity to work with Teodross Avery, a Brooklyn based Jazz muscian, whose worked with a range of artists from Mos Def to Amy Winehouse. I edited together the above video and have also done some other internet and video work for him. Its great to be able to work with such a talented artist.
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