The opera lab – a museum? exhibit?
Big idea statement:
Tell the story of humans using their voice to create art and spiritual experience
Exhibit goals: Open the medium of opera to a wider public; Allow visitors, through multi-sensory experience and participation, to form a deeper connection with the art form.
Historically there have been many attempts to bring opera to a wider audience, including radio broadcasts, operas made for TV, and recently live HD streaming of operas. An opera cabinet of wonder attempts to create a fuller sensory experience, going beyond the 2D screen and headphones.
Opera has many barriers to accessibility: foreign language, outdated plots and conventions, associations with elitism and the dying old world, lllleeeennnnnnnnggthhhhh!
It is a medium fighting for its cultural relevance even in its stronghold countries.
Thinking about how to overcome these barriers, to allow more people to unlock the wonders and emotional power of this medium, is at the heart of this project.
Audience: Anyone with a basic appreciation of music, of any genre.
Idea threads (some of these I’ve started to prototype this semester through other classes):
– An interactive exhibit that allows the user to “sing” with the voice of an opera singer
– A VR experience that visualizes music in architecture and allows users to experience musical structures physically
– Interactive master classes with professional singers, conductors, composers and directors
Research:
https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/inside-the-opera-passion-power-and-politics-exhibition
Posted in Spring '20 - Cabinets of Wonder, Uncategorized |