Technology takes smart approach to art
Would I go to the library to look for a book to explain how to make a film? Would I drive to Limerick city to try and buy the equipment needed? I reckon I’d probably have had to go to Shannon airport to board a plane for London so I could find some people with the smarts.
Today, all I’d need is a smartphone. I could scout the Internet for know-how first, but really the video cameras on phones are so intuitive nowadays you wouldn’t need much direction. I just watched a short French film on the Internet called Framed that was made with an iPhone 4S. The sound was perfect, and it was shot outdoors.
The ability to make arts has never been easier. Technology has played a huge part in improving access.
I watched with fascination the rise of the American comic Bo Burnham. He’s 23 now, and a darling of the live comedy circuit in the United States and over here. He regularly gigs in Ireland. Last month, he played at Vicar St. He shot to prominence aged 16 when he started self-producing YouTube clips of his satirical songs like My Whole Family Thinks I’m Gay’. Within months, his songs had tens of millions of hits. By 17, Comedy Central Records released his first EP. He’d become an international phenomenon without leaving his bedroom in Massachusetts.
Ciaran Kelly is a talented young football writer. He’s just released his first book, a biography of Chelsea’s roguish manager entitled José Mourinho: The Rise of the Translator. It’s available in print and as an eBook. Damien O’Meara made some glowing remarks about the book on RTÉ radio the week before last.
Kelly is only 21 years of age and lives in Galway, yet he managed to source an English publisher and do the research for the book from his base there. Most of his interviews, which reached out to football folk from 15 countries, were done over the phone.
Jarlath Regan is another guy who’s using technology to do it for himself. He’s a stand-up comedian and has published a couple of funny illustrated books. He moved to London a year ago. He thought that when Ken Early, Eoin McDevitt and the Off the Ball crew left Newstalk and began doing a podcast online it would be “a step down”, but he soon realised the form was “actually more powerful”. It inspired him to start his own podcast, An Irishman Abroad, which began live broadcasts in August.
The concept is simple. He interviews successful Irish people who have made it abroad, kind of with a view to understanding how they cracked it, but really the show is a celebration of the long-form interview. He’s compiled an impressive roster of guests, including Dylan Moran, Chris O’Dowd and Dara O Briain, and has managed to fulfil “a lifelong dream” of hosting a talk show.
Nassim Soleimanpour woke up from a shuddering dream about seven years ago. He dreamt he was on stage and wanted to commit suicide in front of the audience, including his parents. It was born from a sense of imprisonment. Soleimanpour is Iranian. He lost his passport because he refused to do his military service. It meant he couldn’t leave his country.
He wrote a play called White Rabbit, Red Rabbit about his predicament, and as a way to get in touch with people from other countries. It was performed at the Kinsale Arts Festival during the summer. A seat in the front row of the theatre is left idle every night for the absent playwright.
The play uses technology in an unusual way, and breaks one of the golden rules of theatre in the process. Audience members are told they can leave their phones on, and, as they’re given Soleimanpour’s email address, they’re invited to write him a message or send him a picture during or after the performance. It’s extraordinary — the play exists without him, but because of the wonder of information technology he’s within it.
The New Year is approaching — a good time to start writing that book or record a song or two. Technology has made it that bit easier.
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