The Future of Performance

Katerina Melen

12/15/06

I really don’t believe there will be any great innovation in the future performances. I think the tendencies are to return back to the basics, the traditional, the tried and true. There is nothing really that could be done that’ll truly be new and outrages. Nudity on stage and in film stopped shocking since the 1960’s, Marina’s Abramovic’s nearly suicidal stage acts are going to be hard to beat, and Marilyn Manson’s bible burning has gotten old. Musical expression has gone though all the possible extremes, from the noisiest heavy metal sound to the John Cage’s 4’33” silent piece.

Of course there will always be a break from the mainstream and there will always be experimentation in performance, with its small but dedicated following, but will it truly bring out something original? With the overwhelming amount of technological advance, people will want to get back to the simpler times and actions. For example, even in video games the trends are going back to using your hands and body in an intuitive and familiar way to control the action on the screen, rather than pressing buttons, such is in the Nintendo’s Wii, or Guitar Hero. I think we can see the same progression in the arts. Electronic, synthetic-sounding music is nowhere as popular as it was in the 80s and early 90s, special effects in the movies are aimed at achieving ultimate realism. Traditional acoustic instruments are making a comeback—you cannot turn on MTV without seeing some Emo singer playing the piano.