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High Art vs. Low Art – Beyonce and Ruth Etting
With technology advancements, technology becomes affordable, accessible and easy to integrate with traditional art practices. In recent years, more and more artists and designers work with programmers and technicians toincorporate some kind of technology, such as electronic textiles, LEDs, and computer generated art into their art works. We see fabulous gowns with blinking LEDs, three-dimensional light projections on iconic buildings, and interactive and tangible screens that change patterns or movements with the performer. Interactive design becomes inevitable and everywhere. In this term paper, I will focus on stage designs and how interactive elements make them more appealing and dynamic to suit today’s audience, comparing Beyonce’s 2013 Super Bowl performance experience to the staging of the famous 1920’s Jazz singer, Ruth Etting.
The performance by Rith Etting is classical; here, she performs the song “If I Could Be With You.” The stage design is simple, with a simple theater curtain in the back and minimalist staging for the rest of the set. She takes center stage standing in front of a piano, and a spot light shines right on her. The design of this stage makes the audiences focus on the singer. There is very little movement in Etting’s performance; this merely focuses on her singing performance and the stillness of her composure. Here, the environment does not need to be interactive; the only thing that needs to be featured is the singer’s beauty and her singing performance, as that is the only thing audiences back then needed to see. The stripped-down nature of the set and the performance reflect the lounge-like atmosphere the performance is going for; the audience is meant to simply imagine they are in a jazz or music club seeing her on stage
On the other hand, the stage design of Beyonce’s is innovative and dynamic, reflecting the heightened need for spectacle demanded by the technological age. The backdrop and the front part of the stage floor are installed with LED screens. There are devices that can release fire on the edge of the stage. The shape of the stage is two silhouetted profiles of her face facing each other, framed by LED lights. The whole set is dynamic and large; the stage is the length of the football field, and she employs dancers and musicians to help her in her bombastic performances. Unlike Etting’s performance, which simply used her voice, the piano, and the voice of the accompanist, Beyonce dances energetically along with several dozen dancers, a full rock band plays along with her singing, and backing tracks provide further instrumentation. In comparison to Etting’s work, this performance is much bigger and more bombastic; it is also not just a single song, but an entire halftime show, lasting fifteen minutes to Etting’s nearly three minutes.
The differences between these two performances highlight not only the considerations of what technology does to a work’s sense of spectacle, but of the questions of high art versus low art. In the practice of art consumption, many have the impression that there is a distinction between art and entertainment – for example, many cinephiles place different standards on the quality of the Transformers movies as they would to Citizen Kane. There is often a perception of commercial tainting of art when considering ‘low art’; art that is created through corporate sponsorship is often perceived as catering to the lowest common denominator, meaning that they must entertain those with short attention spans and who do not wish to think critically about art. This is ‘low art.’ High art, on the other hand, is perceived to be artistic works that are created by a single or unified group of minds for the sake of making an artistic statement; high art is perceived to have greater care and passion put into it than low art, and this is what makes it ‘better.’ It also tends to cater to those who can afford or have the patience for more niche entertainment; it is not for the masses, but for a specified few – typically the intellectual elite – as it is challenging and purposeful.
Ruth Etting’s performance can be considered as “high art” because it is classic. During the 1920s, only the middle class could afford the tickets to watch her perform, particularly live on stage as she is during that performance. On the other hand, Beyonce’s performance was sponsored by Pepsi, and took place during a huge sports event – the Super Bowl. According to Strinati, “Art has become increasingly integrated with the economy”; as economic interests become more and more in control of the entertainment we watch, the more it must be catered to the broadest possible audience in order to increase profits and exposure for the sponsor. Beyonce’s performance was broadcast on TV, which necessitated commercial sponsorship, particularly during the Super Bowl, which is one of the most highly-watched events in American television each year. Pepsi spent a lot of money on this performance for marketing, because they wanted to make a big impression with a popular artist and huge stagey spectacle to sell their product. According to Varnedoe, this performance can be included in the realm of Popular art or low art, due to its commercial applications and the reason for its existing.
In my opinion, high art is not necessarily better than low art - the new technologies afforded by this expensive production provide a different experience to the audience than the intimate ballad of Ruth Etting. The idea of the stage design is original and innovative compared to the classic one, as greater set design and architectural technology was used to create spectacle. Granted, the Etting performance’s scaled-down nature was by design, because the song itself is a small love song as opposed to the energetic, exciting songs Beyonce sings (which are primarily about setting a mood as opposed to conveying a message). However, the show’s ambition is matched by its staging, with the innovative use of LED screens and pyrotechnics, as well as the unique way the use of dancers and crowd members enhances the ‘bigness’ of the performance. The silhouetted figures of Beyonce’s body and face make her seem larger than life, which is the goal of the halftime show, and it succeeds regardless of the value judgments placed on its audience (which is where I feel the high art/low art difference comes in).
Beyonce's performance at the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2013 plays a part in influencing my own practice. There is an interactivity to her work that is stunning, with the LED screens working and changing in time with her dancing. Often, her movements are replicated on the LED screen behind her, creating replicas of Beyonce that move in sync with her, which is a mesmerizing effect that showcases just how interactive this kind of technology can be. Much like with Beyonce’s halftime show, I want to demonstrate ‘high art’ through ‘low art’ practices, as these kinds of flashy technologies are used to convey ideas about how we navigate through our world and interact with it.
In my own work, particularly with the GPS project, I want my technology to interact in similar ways with the participant; as they move different places, technology around them activates and customizes based on their appearance and location. Abstraction is always a helpful and useful way to personify something that is difficult to imagine, and has no visual equivalent in the real world (Kepes, 1966). By using these technologies, we can abstract these ideas and manifest them in creative ways that capture the audience’s imagination, and gets them to think about these things.
According to Turkle, “when technology brings us to the point where we're used to sharing thoughts and feelings instantaneously, it can lead to a new dependence” (270). With this project, I want to deal with these issues of alienation and abstraction and use technology to actually bring people together and to similar places. In much the same way as Beyonce’s interactive LED staging allowed her to create grand spectacle that made her seem like a god among women, I want to use the same technology to allow people greater interactivity with the world around them. Instead of one person towering over others, I can bring everyone to the same level.
Citation
- Fisher, John. Routledge Companion to Aesthetics . 2nd. London: B. Gaut& D. Lopes, 2005. 527-540.Print.
- Varnedoe, Kirk and Adam Gopnik. Introduction. High&Low: Modern Art and Popular Culture. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1990. 369-375. Print.
- Dominic, Strinati. Postmodernism and Popular culture. London,New York: Routledge, 1995. 223-239. Print.
- Early, Gerald. Mixed Messages: The Birth of Mass Culture.
- Kepes, Gyorgy. Sign, Image, Symbol. G. Braziller, 1966. Print.
- Turkle, Sherry. "Can You Hear Me Now?." They say / I say: the moves that matter in academic writing. 2nd ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2010. 270-81. Print.
