Fri November 21 2008
Richard Wagner coined the term gesamtkunstwerk in his 1849 essay, Art and Revolution, to express his concept of a complete artwork. By this he meant a...
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Richard Wagner coined the term gesamtkunstwerk in his 1849 essay, Art and Revolution, to express his concept of a complete artwork. By this he meant an operatic performance that integrated music,
theater and the visual arts. Today we call that multimedia.But as usual with Wagner, gesamtkunstwerk had a multifaceted meaning for him. Gesamtkunstwerk meant more than incorporating various forms of
arti...
read more
Richard Wagner coined the term gesamtkunstwerk in his 1849 essay, Art and Revolution, to express his concept of a complete artwork. By this he meant an operatic performance that integrated music,
theater and the visual arts. Today we call that multimedia.But as usual with Wagner, gesamtkunstwerk had a multifaceted meaning for him. Gesamtkunstwerk meant more than incorporating various forms of
artistic expression. Wagner, like his peer, Friedrich Nietzsche, saw that humanity was becoming a specialized creature. Wagner believed we compartmentalized our capacity for art, religion, philosophy
and science and sought to return humanity to a so-called golden age where all those things were unified. The only way Wagner could possibly express this in the framework of opera was through music,
theater and the visual arts.Since Wagner you could argue that even though we now consume and produce vast quantities of media we have become even more specialized. Today we take multimedia for
granted. It's like air. We can watch a music video on our iPhone on the way to work that's crammed with dancing, singing and special effects. Entertaining for sure, but nothing that combines all that
to express and invoke the gestalt Wagner was striving for.William Morrison and Justin Bennett are currently touring the U.S. with American Memory, an ambitions multimedia project. American Memory
tells the story of artists in a far flung future who discover the American Memory Archive on the net. Intrigued but with no historical context to understand what they have found they broadcast their
surrealistic impressions back through time.Justin and William's gesamtkunstwerk approach of merge and recontextualize music, text, interviews, speeches, photography and film may be the best way to
explore the multilayered history of America.American Memory "American Memory Trailer"American Memory "Artifacts"American Memory "Dear Mr President"American Memory "Backwards Song"American Memory
"Ghost Dance"American Memory "Time Don't Steal"Interview with William Morrison and Justin Bennett of American MemoryStephan Mathieu "Lux-Scn"Al Margolis "Frog Field"
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