Read a lot more than usual today, which had a pretty big impact on the words I wrote.
I read about Marshall McLuhan (specifically Understanding Media) and how his theories directly effected B&G, to the point where their book title is a remediation/pun on McLuhan's text.
I really like puns so I was more satisfied with my choice of theorist.
One thing that really struck me was the lack of theatrical discourse in B&G when compared to McLuhan. The Daddy Mc gives theatre a lot of air time, comparing it to film, television and newspapers, as well as giving it a bit of a look as a standalone.
B&G give it pretty much zero, except to comment in passing - or refer to theatre in terms of place (cinema and home movie).
This led me onto the train of thought that theatre is not new media, but much new media evolved from theatre.
Theatre clearly remediates other media, employing practically anything in pursuit of a show, but also remains resistant to new media in a few important ways - ephemerality, immediacy and locality.
Theatre disappears. Theatre is local. Theatre is not immediate - at least in B&G's terms.
What becomes my two fold problem is applying an interface to theatre (the fourth-wall) by which it may be viewed in terms of new media, then refuting the claim to immediacy that this media appears to warrant.
This is going to be fun....
No comments:
Post a Comment