Although we have learnt why we need to be entertained, and therefore why we generate it, the current situation is that we are overly saturated with mediums of entertainment. Many now believe our brains are becoming harder and harder to keep engaged. With just a swipe of a phone we have a world of entertainment at our fngertips, therefore live, visual performing arts need to keep up with this pace. By identifying current trends and observing levels of engagement, we, as artists can cre- ate work to suit these needs. But before we identify how to do this, we need to gain a better understanding of why the modern brain is considered to be over-saturated.
During this chapter I will refer to the ‘modern brain’, this is not an ofcial term, but one I am using to describe brains of today. Brains, or should we say people, who are living in the digital era, who are used to digital interactions and have grown up with the Internet contributing to most factors of their lives. Our current brains are considered to be over-saturated with information and entertain- ment, but is this an assumption, a generalisation? As you sit here and read this book, you may also have your computer open, your tablet playing music and your phone providing you with constant notifcations. You will happily be juggling all these platforms, and on some level be absorbing the information that they are giving you. This multi-tasking approach is what we mean by the modern brain having the potential to be over-saturated. Ask yourself the last time you sat and read a whole chapter of a book without playing some music or googling a reference, or watched a whole flm without checking your phone. This fckle way of being entertained is potentially resulting in a generation who cannot keep engaged for the length of a piece of visual performing art.
There is no blame here as we have already learnt that our need for entertain- ment is so inbuilt that we will always seek more. The diference now is that it is very easy to fnd it. We learn from an early age how to use digital devices that provide us with aesthetics and profound thoughts. There are now generations of
DOI: 10.4324/9780429317538-4
children turning into adults who have never lived in a world without digital tablets and easily accessible online content. This expansive world of entertainment is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is diversifying our knowledge and allow- ing us to have a broad appreciation for many art forms. On the other, it is providing us with too much choice meaning we never fully commit to one thing. Online streaming platforms ofer us so many avenues to go down that we often take a tapas approach to watching programmes. This attitude is hard to replicate within a live performance, so subsequently, the live experience is potentially becoming increas- ingly less sought after as the commitment required is not an everyday occurrence.
Having the ability to always be connected, via Wi-Fi and data, intensifes the above. In the past you went to a venue to be entertained. Now you can be any- where and fnd a source to stimulate and engage your aesthetic brain. What we need to consider is, ‘is there a breaking point?’ Will we reach a place where we can no longer absorb so many diferent factors, and we will start to desire a slower and more streamlined process to being entertained. My gut reaction is that we will not slow down, we will go of on a tangent. You only need to look a little way into the past to see how people have always considered over-saturation, or in other words, over-indulgence, a common denominator in the evolution of entertainment. But the element that we are indulging in is constantly changing.
Reading a book is considered to be a pastime that is both academic and creative, with an element of sophistication, indeed I spend most of my time encouraging my students to read books. However, this mind-set was not always the case. There was a time where reading a book was one of the few sources of entertainment, and those that spent many an hour doing this were considered to be over-indulging and not living in the ‘now’. This way of thinking only began to change when another source of entertainment came to the forefront and started changing how the brain is engaged. The radio, then closely followed by the television, were the next evo- lutionary steps for entertainment in your own home. Both went through the same ridicule as books, with society having concerns about the amount of time spent listening or watching, and how this was going to have an efect on our children and the future. As Michael Rich comments, Television has always been discussed in medical felds since the 40s and is regarded with ‘concern, attraction, and ambiva- lence’ (Rich, 2009, p. 109). Such words could be used about the way we feel about digital devices and the internet today, we have simply transferred our concerns.
History is repeating itself; therefore, should we not learn from this?
None of these forms have actually ruined our ability to enjoy live performance, if anything they have enhanced and shaped how we enjoy live entertainment. It is not about forcing us to be as we were, but for us as the creators to keep up and allow this evolution to continue. So, with the understanding that we are the ones to follow, we need to consider how we can use current trends to our advantage and subsequently how best to engage the modern brain. Social media is an enormous part of what the modern brain engages with daily, so before we delve into how to create work that keeps this brain engaged, it is worth exploring how we can utilise the world of social media to attract audience and start the engagement journey.
Social media
It is rare to fnd an individual that does not interact with social media in some way in our current society. The easily accessible nature of these platforms and our desire to stay in touch with one another, and spy on the rest, has resulted in an explosion of activity in the world we now consider to be called social networking. But this is not new, many societies have had some form of ‘self-technology’ where a sense of placing order on one’s life can feel fulflled by participating in it. In the Roman era, the educated classes used hympomnemata books to contemplate life, by jotting down musings or mottos (Mc Mahon, 2019). Not a tool with a sense of structure, just a device to remember things by, not dissimilar to looking back on Facebook via Timehop, reminiscing about things you posted, two, fve, 10 years ago. The only key diference is the medium in which it is being recorded on. You are still able to express your thoughts and emotions and refect upon them, but perhaps in a more public manner on our platforms. However, there are examples through time of more inter- active self-technologies that show the progression of such forms to result in what we have today. Such examples are counselling, psychotherapy and even Roman Catholic confession (Mc Mahon, 2019). What has changed dramatically is that we are dealing with self-exploration and human interaction via a digital platform. The face-to-face human connection is potentially being lost and this was a key feature in the past for such self-technologies. So, we do have to wonder how long will this survive if we are pulled physically further and further apart from one another?
Social media can be accessed through a variety of devices (phones, laptops, tablets, etc.) and once considered to only be for the younger audiences, it has now become a generation-wide pastime as smartphones are more mainstream and connectivity internationally more integral to day-to-day life (Hinton and Hjorth, 2013). Originally an American phenomenon with sites such as Friendster, Ryze and SixDegrees, it soon spread globally as it is an addictive form of pastime and many entrepreneurs saw the allure of it. ‘FriendsReunited was developed in the United Kingdom, Mixi in Japan, CyWorld in South Korea, Grono.net in Poland, Taringa!
in Argentina, StudiVZ in Germany, Qzone in China and many more besides’ (Mc Mahon, 2019, pp. 5–6). But the most widely used sites and apps are still produced by America, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, the list is endless. As you are reading this you are most likely tallying how many social platforms you personally use and starting to consider what is the appeal of them. They capture the part of the brain that allows us to be captivated by more traditional forms of entertainment, they are colourful, interactive, subjective and above all involve other humans. No wonder they are as popular as they are, they are engaging us en masse and we keep asking for more. They are starting to afect how we think and how we interact. It has stopped being purely a socialising arena, it has become a crucial part of our daily activity. I am always shocked at how many hours I personally spend on my chosen social media apps. If I did not have a smartphone that tallied my daily amount, which unnerves me and stops my scrolling, then I fear a huge majority of my spare time would be spent in this vein. This clearly infuences our
day-to-day lives, and our relationships, those online and of. This does spark debate and an array ‘of questions about the changing nature of what is public and what is private, and where work ends and life begins, as social media infltrates every facet of everyday life’ (Hinton and Hjorth, 2013, p. 1). A work–life balance is quickly becoming unmeasurable as the two are merging and although this may potentially afect our well-being, we have to acknowledge the media developments that are occurring because of the speed in which social media is ‘taking over’. As Hinton and Hjorth (2013) proceed to say, social media accentuates the changes within the media landscape, bringing it to the forefront of our awareness. Subsequently, it allows for new ways in which to engage and disseminate, and this is a key factor in audience awareness and development when working within the Arts.
Although social media originally started with a mind to enhance personal con- nectivity, it has become ‘a vehicle for popular culture, social media is a dynamic and ever-evolving creature in which use-by dates perpetually loom in the face of the new, novelty practice’ (Hinton and Hjorth, 2013, p. 136). We never know what the latest fad will be, and our own opinions posted on such sites have a sell-by date as much as the platform does. It is a fast-paced world, a fckle world, a judgemental world and one that has many pros and cons to it. But it is a world that has taken popular culture, and subsequently the world of arts, on a new tangent and has allowed for creativity in a new light to evolve. Because of social media, artists have been provided with another medium, and another platform to show work on. For the Visual Performing Arts it is an ideal place to develop within. It is a highly visual media, and this plays well into the hands of artists whose outcome and process connect with this. I follow many dance artists and companies on Instagram because I can see them in action, well before they showcase their work in a theatre. I can feel like I am part of their process, but it also allows for my daily intake of aesthetic kinetic imagery. You can see why a majority of artists have embraced social media as a welcome tool. You can indulge quickly in art that inspires you, and you can also ignite others through your own work. New artists are gaining interest more quickly than they would have in a traditional setting as the use of online art communities become more popular. Such communities, deviantART for example, provide a way for emerging and non-traditional artists to have a place in the world, sparking interest and potential fnancial rewards because they are being noticed outside the traditional structures that are common in the art world (Hinton and Hjorth, 2013).
Artists are also starting to make art from social media. It is an obvious device to showcase work on, but by using it as a conscious theme, or as a material from which to generate work, it is providing us with an array of innovative pieces of enter- tainment. There are artists who have decided to use the power of word and have used Twitter to allow them to cleverly compose 280-character stories. You have the world of TikTok which has seen a rise in choreography generated specifcally for this platform, and exclusively created for mass re-embodiment. Instagram is a common platform for artists and flm artists, painters, dancers, musicians can all be seen not only showcasing work, but also using the platform to create work that can only be appreciated via the app. Alexa Meade is a visual artist who uses Instagram to
showcase her work. She is known for her painting skills, but not on canvas or more traditional sources, she paints onto humans. She turns the 3D form of a living per- son into an animated 2D depiction. Her page shows her at work and has moments of brilliance where you feel you have clicked on a painting of a person, a large brush stroked painting with dramatic bold colours, to only receive a shock when the 2D person opens their eyes and moves down an extremely 3D street. Misconception, innovation and a captive audience. All things that her work evokes because it is seen via Instagram. Her work is not dissimilar to the human statues that we see in Cov- ent Garden, but because it is not in the usual environment it has produced a new lease of life. So much so that collaborations with other art mediums have been used by Meade, most popular ones being her work with musician Ariana Grande in her music video God is a Woman, and a more politically driven creation saw choreog- rapher/dancers Jon Boogz and Lil Buck painted in Meade’s signature way whilst commenting on racial tensions in America through dance.
Social media art is becoming a term within itself, and this is a direct response to the audience’s, and artists’, modern brain make-up. We live in this way now, so art and culture have to follow this trajectory, or it will be left behind. Xioa, a social media artist, explains to Hinton and Hjorth (2013) in Understanding Social Media, that there are four rules to adhere to if you want to ft in the bracket of a social media artist.
1 The web must play a key role in the expression of the art. Not simply mar- keted on the web or sourced from the web.
2 Your work must involve audience in some way, because social media is a social medium.
3 The work must be accessible to an audience who are outside of the art scene, but it must still be conceptually rich.
4 It ‘is about intent – the artist must be able to articulate a reason or purpose of the artwork that then permits it to be examined and validated by others’
(Hinton and Hjorth, 2013, p. 88).
We can see that if its own form of art is emerging then social media is clearly an infuential factor in how performing arts in general will develop. We have the mod- ern-brained audience and the modern brains of the creatives. We are not content with a traditional performance anymore. With this in mind let us take a moment to consider our own practice.
TASK
Take your pen to paper and refect upon the below questions:
• How do you use social media within your practice?
• Has it enhanced or hindered your progress?
The idea that every creative has, or should, embrace social media would be a naive response. Not every artist within the arts community has found advantages to this digital social world. There is defnitely a mixed response to its importance.
There are those who see social media platforms as too commercialised, and a place full of uneducated individuals who are allowed to express their critiques as if they were professional opinions. It is also becoming increasingly hard to diferentiate between the producer and the consumer. Those ‘trained’ artists are the elite, but if they do not showcase themselves via social media then they may not be recog- nised, and an individual who shows a little talent but posts continually about it will quickly overtake them in terms of popularity. Not fair when it is acknowledged that it takes 10,000 hours of study or training to become a professional. Malcolm Gladwell, whose calculation this is, would be a little defated looking at the rise of some stars and the relatively minimal hours they have put in. Therefore, the ques- tion is how can artists maintain their status without engaging in social media, and if they cannot, what does this mean for the arts, culture and technology? (Hinton and Hjorth, 2013). We have to understand its brilliance, and its allure. We have to dissect not only why the modern brain thrives on it, but also how fast-paced and ever-changing it is. It certainly is not a tool for everyone, but if you are wanting to generate work that will appeal to all audiences, specifcally the younger genera- tions, then you will have to understand the ways in which it can be used to your advantage. Understanding it is accepting that this new medium is afecting social development, and by realising this, you will come to develop a better awareness of the world in which we are now living (Hinton and Hjorth, 2013).
Three key things have emerged from my research into social media that I feel every artist should refect upon so that they can utilise the efect social media has had on our brains:
1 Use the socials to your advantage
2 It is fast-paced – so replicate this in your work
3 Be aware it is ever-changing, and tomorrow there will be a new craze Using it to your advantage can be in an array of ways. Sarah Brigham uses social media to her advantage with respect to audience awareness, a key factor when running a theatre. But her thoughts do make you realise how simple social media really is:
What is social media, other than word of mouth? Word of mouth has always been the biggest seller of any theatre show – but now even more so. People want to feel part of something. Social media is word of mouth and therefore is our biggest tool.
(Brigham, 2021) Without word of mouth, the arts world would struggle to evolve and develop.
She rightly points out that this will sell your shows. Large companies and Theatres specifcally hire a social media marketing specialist so that their target audience can