Hi all,
Just discovered a band called 'Genki Rockets' who claim to be totally virtual. Their lead vocalist is represented through a hologram of what is apparently a completely computer generated image. She is a fictional character who was apparently born in space, has never seen the Earth and is singing to us from the year 2037.
I know this is very similar to Gorillaz, but what's interesting about Genki Rockets is that they are run under a veil of supposed total anonymity concerning the artists behind the fictional character. The Gorillaz on the other hand are well known to be the lovechildren of Damon Albarn (of Blur fame) and Jamie Hewlett (illustrator of 'Tank Girl').
By not only hiding their physical forms but also their identity in performance, the performers remove any doubling effect between their actual selves and the representation. This arguably makes their fictitious, computer generated space girl Lumi 'real' and creates a totally virtual performance that can be seen as live because Lumi is the only facet of the band known to the public. There is simply no other element to her existence that could be noticed outside of her hologramatic appearance, and for that reason a video image of her is as live as a flesh and blood appearance, because these things in this context are the same.
This virtuality is reflected in their music, which is also highly computer augmented and synthesised. It's that sort of twee electro pop sound.
Anyway, linkage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genki_Rockets
www.genkirockets.com
and one of their videos:
3 comments:
Although the music leaves a lot to be desired haha... this is really interesting Will. Definite similarities with Gorillaz live show and really interesting to hear that the band have remained incognito! This again brings up the debate about how interesting and engaging this kind of performance can be for an audience because we must remember that nothing LIVE is happening ON STAGE. Anyone else have any thoughts on the clip? LIVE VERSUS MEDIATED DEBATE PLEASE!!! haha
Dean, I'm really not convinced that you can say 'nothing LIVE is happening ON STAGE'..! But I am convinced with your other comment, 'the music leaves a lot to be desired'!
Maybe live was the wrong word to use claire... It was the idea that the actual stage is empty apart from the use of lighting and whatever technologies the band uses to create the figure of the female vocalist. I assume that the band play the songs from behind the stage curtain and that it isnt completely prerecorded but from what the audience 'SEE', there is nothing that isnt already prerecorded! Again this argument could also be applied to theatre to an extent, in the fact that everything is rehearsed but there is always that feeling of uniqueness and that nothing is exactly the same twice in the theatre whereas at a Genki Rockets concert, it is the exact same gig over and over again.
This is clearly a very interesting case study and i think that it is very much a topic that could be argued on both sides.
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