I often zap around on Youtube, watching concert videos of my favorite artists. Generally, I watch some of the early concerts which are mostly from the late 60s or generally early 70s. But what came to me the other day, when I watched an early Genesis concert video from 1973, was a new realization. In that video, the young Peter Gabriel was going wild - or I should say progressive - with his long hair, grimace making face, and the bizarre costumes and masks that he changed constantly. I think the song was, The Knife.
The realization was that for the first time I saw - symbolically speaking - how performing arts changed completely from the moment camera and later film and video were developed. Not only the notion of performing arts has expanded, but how we see over time our favorite artists and how we have recorded testimonies of their lives and behaviors over their extended lives, is a first in human history.
So you may wonder where I have been and ask, «so what?», because it seems obvious that camera and film changed the nature and the variety of performing arts, be it in music, theatre, or acting. That is of course true, but the realization that I am talking about is slightly different and it involves the artist and the creator.
You see, watching that video of Peter Gabriel from 1973, and putting it in perspective of how the (much) older Peter Gabriel of today is manifesting himself, I realized that we have an entire life of an artist and creator recorded and deposited for the future to see and study. And that is true of most of the artists in the 20th century.
Imagine if we had recordings of Mozart, or Vivaldi, at their different philharmonic concerts, plus interviews of them? Or if we had documentaries depicting Claude Monet in his natural working and living environment.
Yes I know that sometimes we have descriptions of these people from others, and some even have pictures and voice recordings, but it is only from the 1930s and 40s that we have recordings and images of the artists as they ‘grew up’ in their fields. Today, we can trace the real Peter Gabriel from the era of Genesis to the current wise man, or Jane Fonda from the hot and sexy Barbarella of 1968, to the fit middle aged hotty from the 80s fitness craze, and on to the gracious and humorous senior citizen in Grace and Frankie of 2020. All these artists’ works, behaviors, looks and in general, every aspect of their actions and personalities are recorded and registered for everyone from now to infinity to see and witness. I guess that is another way to say, « no soul left behind. »
Paris, February 6, 2025,
Zeejay