Throughout researching spectacle through art I now feel there many others through things in our modern world that you know are spectacles without realising it. People symbolise the snake in the basket metaphor. We are the snake hypnotised by spectacle yet being exploited in someway or another. However we like spectacles because they are all around us and constitute fun and excitement.
Some spectacle I found are:
Olympics Opening Ceremony- It consisted of fireworks some which shaped like footprints, performances and singing. This was all the positive spectacles however the negative spectacles were that the footprint fireworks were said to be fake and the girl singing was lip syncing . This caused the press to go wild causing a spectacle something to read, watch, listen to, it also created a negative spectacle of china, they intially wanted to paint a pretty spectacle of their country however due to speculation they created a negative spectacle of the country.
This links to sport being a spectacle much sport opens in the same way or consists of spectacles during the event however less spectacular but can be positive or negative. An example of this can be at a football match they say the national anthem, chant, mexican wave, fight, swear, associate hooligan behaviour, and dance (cheerleaders in American football).
There are many other sporting activities that appear to be spectacles such as synchronised swimming, Dancing on Ice – the sport and show are both spectacles, some viewer watch it because it a spectacular sport other watch it because it’s a competition. More dance programmes such as MTV’s ‘Americas Best Dance Crew is a spectacle- Dance is a spectacle on it’s own yet producing a show on the performances adds the competition element to it making it more entertaining thus increasing viewers. Spectacles impress us and engage us playing on our emotions, making us feel we have participated however this participation is included litterally in most competition shows because you vote for who you want to keep.
With this particular group from ‘America’s Best Dance Crew’ called the ‘JabbaWockeez’ fits the explanation of spectacle through their moves, co-ordination, style and analogy. They say “they are the Jabbawokeez because we are a pigment of your imagination” . This ties in nicely with the surrealist angle on art and they are some what using there subconscious mind to explain who the are and what they represent. They also got their name from a mysterious poem and try to implement a mysteries attribute through themselves and their dance moves. This is agina something that many artist did when developina vision for their work. There are more than one spectacle present in this case.
The Jabbawokeez
There are also spectacle in music videos this is quite a popular areas for spectacle because it can boost the sales of the song if the video is good. An example of a two differnt music video i find spectacular are Michel Gondry’s video for The White Stripes song ‘I Fell In Love With a Girl’ and T-pain ‘Chopped and Screwed’.
This video uses stop motion in the most difficult way ever with lego, it shows the creativity of the film maker and watching keeps audiences attention throughout the whole song which is what music video are suppose to do. The lego gives of this child- like feel although the song is about falling in love it still child friendly by the amazing spectacle.
The T-pain video ‘Chopped and Screwed’ caught my eye because it gives of this wonderland feel, like your inside your imagination or dream world again something that many surrealist artist take inspiration from. I also like how the image changes in sync with the song, this adds to the spectacle that is already evident.
Festivals and carnivals are also spectacles yet they hold other meaning behind it, it is usually celebrating something e.g. Notting Hill Carnival in London was a reponse to the race relations going back to 1950′s. Now it’s very Carribean driven, yet celebrating the diversity we have in London. Therefore it’s a spectacle because it is a carnival and it’s a spectacle because it represents something. It aslo has become a spectacle from the riots in 1976 up to the present day with much links to gun and knife crime amoungst youth.
