If music is the poetry of sound, art is the poetry of sight; and it is a mélange of the two that is inspiring a new kind of culture which feeds the soul with the most satisfying beauty.
Experiencing music performances live has never been just about the music. Different spheres and scales of shows offer different adventures for the audience. Whether it’s attending an extravagant T-Swift concert at the Madison Square Garden with excited teenaged girls prancing around, or chancing to explore more indigenous artists at an underground event with chilled out vibes, it’s so much about the kind of energy present in the moment.
It goes a lot into cultivating that kind of energy into the audience during a performance, and when it comes to curating music festivals, the effort and creativity put in is far more extensive. Since the past couple of years the focus has shifted from conceiving simple music concerts to more enriching audio-visual experiences, which involve treat for the eyes just as much as for the ears. This demand for aesthetics has created a channel for the collision of art with the music scene, which is sizzling with the most extraordinary ideas!
Art adds a whole new dimension to the creative expression that the music pursues. The two form a compelling bond with a power to tease feelings in humans, inducing sensory experiences like they were never felt before.
Art Installations For Soul
Apart from fulfilling the dream of catching the best of the best music acts live, hanging out with the most congenial music hippies and experiencing other debauchery, there’s another reason why attending festivals like Coachella and Burning Man are added to every music lover’s bucket list. It’s the ethereal art installations that leave festivalgoers in awe each year. The exhibited artwork is the creation of some of the world’s most talented artists, designers and strategists who grind throughout the year to showcase these works of wonder. (Check out some of the best Burning Man art installations through the years here). These installations inject a feeling of warmth and beauty in your festive escapades, since being surrounded by visually pleasing environment makes you feel happier (Science bi**h!). India too has been seeing a burst of art in its music scene with initiation of festivals like ‘Magnetic Fields’ and ‘Emerge’ that give special attention to art installations, as one of their main attractions.
Graphics, Strobe Lights, Lasers & More
100-foot LED lights that illuminate with electrifying imagery in sync with the tunes dropped by the DJ behind the console deserve as much credit as the bass for blowing your mind during the set. Today, music artists are getting more and more involved in the stage set-up process to integrate aesthetics with their music. Be it, Skrillex’s exorbitant stage production at the ‘Mothership’ tour, Deadmau5’ ever intriguing LED Cube console, or RATATAT’s animated film snippets that flip the way the music goes, visuals play an important role to set yourself apart as a musician and make a statement. Visual Jockeys like Carlo Ruijgers of Eyesupply or Dave Wexler of Teaching Machine create visual content for some of the most eminent DJs of the industry using standard 3D animation software like Cinema 4D, Derivative TouchDesigner, and Adobe After Effects.
“People are paying good money to go see these DJs, it’d be wrong for them not have that [be] a memorable experience.” –Bird, Head of UK based VJ collective ‘Comix’
Artsy Apparel
Flower tiaras, Native-American headgear, silver tattoos and feathered ‘BoHo’ dresses may seem weird to sport at a party or a club, but they seem to fit right in at music festivals! It’s here that you get to observe some of the quirkiest outfits that are dipped in creativity. It’s a way of participating in the celebration of expression that these festivals stimulate. Whether it’s sporting Tees with the face of your favourite band or adorning an outfit that matches the feel of their music, fashion definitely contributes a fair share in displaying your love for the music. Some brands have started customizing apparels to help you wear your devotion for your favourite bands and festivals, offering apparel with music artwork that could definitely help you make some friends (expect a lot of “Oh my god, you like that band too?”). So apart from using clothes as your canvas, they also serve as interesting icebreakers. Bonus!
Music And Movies
Just as art accentuates the impact of music, music does the same for art. Storytelling in films can be greatly manipulated by the kind of music used and the way it is used. It works as a catalyst inducing emotions that the maker is trying to brew. There’s a reason why Hans Zimmer was accredited with such praise for providing the soundtrack to Christopher Nolan’s groundbreaking movie, ‘Interstellar’.
The relationship between art and music will always be oozing with new, awe-inspiring creations that encourage liberation, and what could be a better way to open up your mind than some delicious Audio-visual goodness!