Postmodernity in Multimedia Module name: Contextual Studies 3 Module code: MMCS-III Student name: Lucian Blankevoort Student number: 201247240 UJ Faculty of Art Design & Architecture Department Multimedia Design Date submitted: 15 March 2014 Word count: 1736 ASSIGNMENT COVER PAGE / ANTI-PLAGIARISM DECLARATION UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG CONTEXTUAL STUDIES III Assignment Title: Postmodernity in Multimedia Full name: Lucian Blankevoort Student number: 201247240 Course: Multimedia Contextual Studies III Lecturer: Shashi Cook Due date: 17 March 2014 1. Plagiarism is to present someone else’s ideas as o . 2. Where material written by other people has been used (either from a printed source or from the internet), this has been carefully acknowledged and referenced. I have used the Geneva Convention for citation and referencing. Every contribution to and quotation from the work of other people in this essay has been acknowledged through citation and reference. 3. I know that plagiarism is wrong. 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 I u de sta d hat plagia is is a d a a a e of the U i e sit ’s poli i this ega d. I know that I would plagiarise if I do not give credit to my sources, or if I copy sentences or paragraphs from a book, article or Internet source without proper citation. I know that even if I only change the wording slightly, I still plagiarise when using someone else’s o ds ithout p ope itatio . I declare that I have written my own sentences and paragraphs throughout my essay and I ha e edited all ideas I ha e gai ed f o othe people’s o k. 4. I declare that this assignment is my own original work. 5. I have not allowed, and will not allow, anyone to copy my work with the intention of passing it off as his or her own work. SIGNATURE____________________________________ DATE _________________________________________ i Contents Table of Figures .............................................................................................................................iii Postmodernity in Multimedia ........................................................................................................ 1 Sources Consulted.......................................................................................................................... 5 ii Table of Figures Figure 1 Audience disapproves of the 2CELLOS. 2CELLOSlive (uploader), 2CELLOS performs Thunderstruck, 2014. .............................................................................................................................. 1 Figure 2 AI Narrator mocks character. booomse (uploader), Portal 2 The best of GLADos, 2011 ........ 2 iii Postmodernity in Multimedia This essay attempts to demonstrate the principles and application of postmodernity through the use of an example; the example being a product of Multimedia. In this essay, the principles of modernity and how they are addressed by postmodernity will be discussed. Finally the ideas and notion of reality will be discussed with reference to Hart (2004:47-66) and Kando (1996:3-33). Modernity was founded on the belief that truth is definitive, scientific and builds a reality that is universal and irrefutable. This was in an effort to drive progress and create a stable and constant reality for people to develop in. Postmodernism can be seen as an attempt to analyse and deconstruct the ideas of modernism, questioning the modernist approach to ideals (Kando 1996:6). Postmodernism recognises that the modernist approach to the truth is flawed as reality is not in fact a single truth but rather, that reality is made up of many perspectives of truths, each perspective being as relevant and correct as the next. This in turn deconstructs our ideas of freedom. To enforce o e’s pe spe ti e of f eedo and liberation on another cannot be seen as liberation, but rather imprisonment as it eliminates choice. In the following example (2CELLOSlive 2014), the ideas of postmodernism are expressed. The video starts off showing people filing into a theatre to watch two men play cello. It seems to be a classical demonstration at first, but this soon is shown to not be the reality. The cellists play a pretty intense e ditio of ACDC’s Thu de st u k. Figure 1 Audience disapproves of the 2CELLOS. 2CELLOSlive (uploader), 2CELLOS performs Thunderstruck, 2014 (screen shot by author)(2CELLOSlive 2014). In the video we can observe examples of post modernism (2CELLOSlive 2014). The artists and creators made use of pastiche, by imitating the classical period. They also imitated the work of ACDC’s thu de st u k. We a o se e a h idisatio of the t o astl diffe e t eras in the video as the e ge the old a d the e to eate so ethi g u i ue a d diffe e t f o oth. While this technique does ’t al a s p odu e g eat esults, he it does, it is something that can widely be appreciated. Perhaps not by purists, ut this t pe of o k is ’t ate i g fo the pu ist. The postmodern approach towards tone in daily life seems to take a light hearted approach, making light 1 of the serious and revelling in the irony of life. This mocking of conventions can be seen in the video as the audience is seen gasping and looking on the cellists in horror as their way of life and approach to music is questioned and torn apart (2CELLOSlive 2014). The artists make fun of what the faux audie e takes e se iousl , a d that’s ot all, the a tists do ’t see to a e, if a thi g, the seem to enjoy the disapproval from their serious audience. This type of work is often referred to as a parody; a parody being an instance of work that mocks, or questions and comments on, an original sou e of o k ith a i o i to e. This is a hie ed idi uli g the o igi al a d pla i g it’s alues out of context so as to comment on the way one should never forget that everything is a matter of perspective. In this case, we observe the contrast between the 18th century fashions and setting, with the inherently unconventional and outrageous nature of ACDC and the rock era. The former being so extremely serious and polite, contrasts radically with the careless, rowdy nature of the latter. My second example of post modernism in multimedia makes reference to the game series Portal and for the purposes of this essay, we will observe a compilation of short recordings from the game (booomse 2011). Originally created as an experiment and side project, the original was released as a free addition to another game from the same developers. Figure 2 AI Narrator mocks character. booomse (uploader), Portal 2 The best of GLADos, 2011 (screen shot by author)(booomse 2011). In ooo se’s ideo ooo se , we can observe the deconstruction and criticism of human psychological quirks. Throughout, the AI Narrator mocks human traits and shows how silly humans are. To make use of an example: the idea that the character would actually care about the fact that the Artificial Intelligence doing the narration believes that the player is overweight is absurd, especially considering the post-apocalyptic circumstances. The designers put the player of the game in another perspective to provide them with the means to critique their current reality. This change in perspective is typically postmodernist, as it shows how everything that one considers important 2 and true is not necessarily fact as it is simply true for o e’s own reality. If perspective gets shifted and the world is seen through the eyes of another, the views of before seem trivial. The AI constantly makes comments, attempting to break down the player emotionally, but these tactics are somewhat futile now, given the players new found perspective. This change in perspective is referred to as alterity. Another example of postmodernist concepts in Portal is the panopticon references. This is more prevalent in the first game as it is not revealed until the end of the game that the player is the last surviving human being. Throughout the game the player is made to go through test chambers, thinking that he/she is being observed by scientists. This feeli g of i isi le o is ie e is e e p ese t. A othe e a ple of post ode ist i flue e i Po tal is the p ese e of Flatte i g of Affe t . This is notable in both the way the character reacts to the situation before them, and the passive aggressive nature of the AI. Cybernetics are explored as the player experiences what it would be like to have the advantages of certain technologies at their disposal, such as the portal gun (booomse 2011). The artificial intelligence that can be observed in the game too is an example of the ideas that technology may gain human qualities with regards to emotion and psychological state. Finally, to top it all off, Portal takes a witty tone, highlighting the irony in modern day conventions (booomse 2011), which is typically postmodernist. The game itself is an example of virtual reality, where the creators of Portal have created a world real enough to immerse the gamer, in a way, transporting them to this alternate reality while they play. This is a post-modernist technique towards providing people with a means to gain perspective. These ideas of alternate virtual realities are often given thought in the postmodern school of thought (Kando 1996:5). Lastl , I’ll ush upo the otio of ealit . Postmodernity is largely based around the concepts of hyperreality (Kando 1996:22). Hart (2004:58) describes hyperreality as living in a world of images and representations of the o ld that a e o e eal a d allu i g tha the a tual o ld a ou d us. Hart discusses how postmodern society has become accustomed to viewing the world as opposed to really being a part of it. Technology has made it possible to view worldly sights and experiences so easily that people are becoming numb and detached. We gain an onlookers perspective and with it, we lose our ability to fully empathise with the world around us (Kando 1996:23). Hart (2004:62) also discusses how it is an unrounded hyper reality, crafted from carefully selected information. As onlookers, we are fed a biased and leading hyper-reality to construct our perception of the world. If we look once again at the example of Portal, we see layers of this concept of hyper-reality. First, in the rawest sense, this is a game that is played by a real world person, and viewed in the first perspective. An alternate reality gets created in front of the gamer, linking the real person into this virtual world, through controller and display. Another way in which this game relates to these o epts is the a i hi h the pla e is e e full a a e of the ga e’s glo al situatio u til the have progressed far enough into the game. They are fed information which constructs a half truth of the virtual world’s ealit . As the pla out the ga e i side a testi g fa ilit , they are always forced to draw conclusions from various clues that are discovered rather than going out into the virtual world and discovering first-hand what is going on out there. Thus, they are forced to discover more about their situation as they play through the game but can never be certain. Such is life. Postmodernism argues that there is nothing we can truly be certain of. Even to experience something as it happens, in the prese t, o e’s idea of eal is just a matter of perspective and interpretation; if o e is to look upo o e’s e pe ie e ith a post-modernist mind-set. Experiences 3 of the past are nothing more than memories of an event and subject to human error with regards to interpretation. Denial can cloud o e’s mind, creating false realities for ones-self. When ones e o fails, o e’s i agi atio fills i the gaps ith fi tio al occurrences. Such is the human condition. As much as it we try to combat it, our logic and views on reality will always be subject to corruption when emotion and bias comes in to play (Kando 1996:6). Ou otio of ealit is a concept doomed from the start. 4 Sources Consulted 2CELLOSlive. 2014. 2CELLOS – Thunderstruck. [O]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uT3SBzmDxGk Accessed 15 March 2014. Booomse. 2011. Portal 2 Best of GLaDOS. [O]. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5kkwermfs4 Accessed 15 March 2014. Hart, K. 2004. Chapter 3. Postmodern experience, in Post oder is , a begi Oxford University Press: 47-66. er’s guide. Oxford: Kando, T. 1996. Postmodernism: old wine in new bottles? International journal on world peace 13(3): 3-33. 5