(Written by Pieter
Jacobs, the CEO of ACT, the following article is made available in arrangement
with the Arts & Culture Trust (ACT) and the Dramatic, Artistic and Literary
Rights Organisation (DALRO). See ACT’s website http://www.act.org.za/)
When we talk about the intersection between the arts and
technology we tend to think about how the arts could be advanced using
technology and not necessarily the other way around.
I would argue that the arts have influenced the advancement
of technology for many decades. Designers and filmmakers have played an
undeniable role in stimulating the development of technology with some of these
advances first making their appearances in imaginative films. Star Trek brought us the communicator
aka the mobile phone, 3-D printing and numerous others. A version of Steven
Spielberg’s digital billboards in Minority
Report, which can tell a person’s gender, is being tested in Japan and
France.
Simply on this basis, the arts have immense potential and
partnerships between the arts and technology should be promoted and resourced.
One of the most well-known freethinkers, Steve Jobs, has been quoted in Walter
Isaacson’s biography as believing that “the reason Apple resonates with people
is that there is a deep current of humanity in our innovation. I think great
artists and great engineers are similar, in that they both have the desire to
express themselves. In fact, some of the best people working on the original
Mac were poets and musicians on the side.”
While I believe that the potential impact of technology
could play a significant role in the way the arts operate, communicate and
market their artistic work, these areas are not where the true value of
technology in the arts lies. The challenge is in the take-up of technology in
artistic products and/or experiences. Only when this is effectively done will
the arts truly be in a position to compete with the numerous leisure activities
available to society.
Ultimately, what counts is the experience when people
consume arts regardless of the medium through which the message is conveyed.
For me, the meaning of the art does not lie in the medium through which it is
told. Technology simply becomes a tool to push the envelope and redefine the
paradigm of arts and culture production and preservation.
Just thinking about some of the successful work that has
been done in this arena stirs my excitement. One of these is La Bastille, a
large scale integrated art installation created by Technology House at Brown
University. At the time of its installation, it was the world’s largest fully-functional
Tetris game. The installation was a 14-story-building interactive exhibition
that could be seen from far.
As a playwright in my free time, I am tremendously excited
about what technology could mean for theatre works, which is but one of the
reasons I look forward to the upcoming ACT | UJ Conference. The 2015 conference
sets out to explore entrepreneurship and its relationship to micro, small and
medium arts, culture and entertainment enterprises as well as artists and arts
and culture practitioners, organisations and institutions. No doubt, the role
of technology will be interrogated as part of this theme. The Arts &
Culture Trust (ACT) will release more event details in due course. - Pieter
Jacobs, ACT CEO
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