Shuffle Culture

My ex-boyfriend is a visual artist (he's very good). Hanging out with him for like 6 years made me realize how totally different the visual art and theater communities are. When it comes to innovation, visual artists outclass theatre artists like it's their job.

Why is this? Well, after years of being lead around to galleries, openings, and gallery-openings, it finally dawned on me that visual art, unlike theater, is free to look at. Anybody can waltz into the Gagosian and check out a Cy Twombly (priced up to like $4.5 million), but free theater is for the most part nonexistant. I think this leads to some other important distinctions, like if I wanted to see something new by 100+ theater artists, it would probably take me six months (a year?), and several thousands of dollars. On the other hand, if I wanted to see something new by 100+ visual artists, all I would have to do is walk around Williamsburg on the second Friday of the month (or Chelsea, or whatever).

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big fan of the art scene (there's a reason he's my ex-boyfriend). But oh, do I envy their access. And I'm not advocating a night where 100+ theatre artists open up their rehearsal processes (well... maybe). But in the spirit of communication, I would like to draw your attention to these productions, all recent or ongoing, that are doing some remarkable things:

Contains Violence, currently getting terrible reviews in the UK, which is disappointing, because it sounds awesome. Theatre audience as Hitchcockian voyeur, happening in real time and space.

Democracy in America, Annie Dorsen's open-source deconsctruction/reconsctruction of deTocqueville with the Foundry Theatre.

Conversation Storm, recently at the Frigid Festival, described by Aaron Riccio as a marriage of Phillip Glass and Chuck Mee

Of All the People in All The World, by Stan's Cafe. A play without a plot.

Small Metal Objects by Back to Back Theatre, which I've written about before. Site-specific, tech-forward, and live as anything can possibly be.

The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other, a play without words; "people-watching raised to the level of art"

Along these lines, I'd also like to point out this post from the Guardian Theatre Blog, which calls for an "iPod-like relationship between careful planning and chance" in theatre (Merce Cunningham is already all over this). I love this idea, and I think the performances listed above are making real strides in this direction. The live performing arts have got to fit into the landscape of open-source, of shuffle culture, and of personal control over information. I mean, we should own this one. We're live.

Why is this so hard?

"Engaging the audience" is having a big moment:

NYTimes critic Charles Isherwood dips his toe in the interactive theatre water here

Lyn Gardner, my favorite Guardian theatre critic/blogger, wonders if "The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other" might be better performed outside

This isn't exactly breaking news, but Improv Everywhere continues to push the boundaries of theatre in playful, exciting ways... and it's spreading to the UK! (Their This American Life stories are wonderful and a little heartbreaking.)

And then we have this article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, discussing a recent Heinz foundation initiative dispursing funds to arts organizations to come up with new ways to engage the audience. The results:

• Concert messaging at Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. A screen displayed information about music and the PSO between pieces, to reach out to the audience and disrupt the usual concert format.

• Changing signs at Andy Warhol Museum Brillo Boxes exhibit. Over eight weeks, officials went from using no interpretive signs to displaying proactive ones to investigate visitor experiences and interpretation.

• In the Dancer's Studio, Stagestruck and Beginning Ballet with Bob at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. These behind-the-scenes workshops let the audience inside the creative process.

• Girls Night Out at City Theatre. Friday night group specials with drink discounts and massages show that arts events with friends can be fun.

• Point of View Writing Workshops at Silver Eye Center for Photography. Participants write short stories related to photography to foster opinion sharing and interaction with art.

• Circle discussions at Quantum Theatre. Board members invite subscribers and single-ticket buyers into their homes, forcing board members and other theater officials to listen closely to audience opinions.

• European intermission and Cupcake Questions at Dance Alloy Theatre. During a half-hour intermission the audience gets free cupcakes with questions tucked inside, provoking thought and discussion in fun ways.

I'm sorry...what? Proactive signage? Circle discussions? "Arts night out with friends can be fun"? I feel kind of guilty for criticizing these ideas, and I'm really not trying to disparage anyone's good intentions (especially those backed by a generous grant), but this is a little disappointing.

Community and open access are two of the biggest things going on in the world right now, and we come up with cupcakes. Why is this so hard?

Anyway, a few people seem to be getting it right (or at least are going in the right direction):

Back to Back theatre, whose "Small Metal Objects" was also featured in this year's Under the Radar. Why do I love them? (1) From New Zealand, (2) headphones, (3) engaging disability without bathos.

Punchdrunk, whose "Masque of the Red Death" is Lyn Gardner's favorite thing, and was the centerpiece of Isherwood's article.

This is a little old, but for cutting-edge technology, 82-year-old Merce Cunningham outclasses everyone. Ipods, Sigur Ros, Radiohead, and postmodern dance, anyone?