With each passing era, motion media and cinema evolve with the use of different ideas, redefining what multimedia should and could be. Works such as Nam June Piak’s Beatles Electronique, manipulated the use of pop icons into his works. You can say he is the sum of all of his inspirations. The same goes with hybrids in media. The use of still motion, animation, and filters have created trends in the early 60’s-70, and with the creation of these elements, their influences live on in media today.
Beatles Electronique was created with electromagnetic manipulation, as well as live broadcast clips from famous Beatles music videos. The sound behind the three minute film, is by Ken Werner, who’s “Four Loops” were actual distortions of Beatles sounds. Like avant-garde artst, John Cage, Ken Werner’s music was based on manipulation, as well as Paik’s visuals. This method has since been altered drastically, but another example of this type of visual would be Yayoi Kusama’s Self-Obliteration.
Kusama’s work uses realism as well as light manipulation, and the concept of psychedelia. The sound is more ancient sounding than modern avant garde, but like the 80’s-90’s, the imagery is similar in inspiration. We can see how far Kusama was thinking in the future with Self-Obliteration being made in the 60’s, as this trend didn’t really take off until later on.
And with hybrids, the element of stop motion was extremely popular in the 90s. Stop motion animation is the art of manipulating objects with the use of a digital camera, and making them appear to be moving by taking stills to create the illusion of movement. Tools used to create stop motion are often puppets, clay, paint, and people.
Stop motion was used throughout Europe and America in earlier times. Many stop motion animators felt the end of stop motion came in 1993, with the creation of the film Jurassic Park. Yet stop motion can still be seen today in works such as Haley Morris’ short film, Undone.
Fast forward to modern day, and these trends are still being used. In film, the concept of developing a trademark, is key to reaching out to your target audience as far as marketing. We can see older influences in today’s film title brandings such as the use of still motion, animation and imagination mixed with reality.
For example, Jim Helton’s design for Blue Valentine incorporates photographs with blurred out scenes of fireworks seeping through. This is a prime example of lighting manipulation. The feeling Helton was trying to convey was the connection between the main characters was literal “fireworks” in love, although reality may not always portray it that way. By using hybrid art, we can convey messages in countless ways.
The trend of hybrids in media is ever changing, yet the elements remain the same. Whether you’re using stop motion to create a film, or just adding harsh filters to digital photographs, the idea that art is made of paint and canvas is in many ways, ignorant, as art is created with any element an artist perceives to be as inspirational. Hybrid art has survived through the times, and continues to live on today.
The Multimedia Spectrum 