Living Art and Shining Frivolity - An Introduction

My blog aims to explore my chosen subjects in relevance to popular features of culture and media. It will reveal that these subjects can intertwine, and connect in ways that people may not have previously thought of or discovered. 

The focus of this blog will be to research my chosen themes which will in turn inspire different ideas and may come up with some unique concepts to express through the media of games for The Design Futures Project. The research will focus on popular themes in culture, and will result in producing an interesting IP (Intellectual Property) for a game.

Through research I will discover the past, present and future instances of my chosen themes. The past is relevant because many present day and possibly even future themes are always inspired by what has previously been popular and successful in the past. Various examples of this can be seen in film, television, music, art, games and toys.

My research will fall into 3 categories:

Present: How the subject is viewed by society in present day, and how it is relevant to present day culture and the media. What do people think of the chosen subject, has the subject changed, and are people's views influenced by other cultural trends.

Past: What was the success of this subject like? How did people view this subject in the past and did they like it. How has it changed between the past and present and is it any more advanced / different.

Horizon: What does the Future hold for this subject? Are there any plans on the Horizon?

My chosen themes:

'Theatre'

Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art using live performers to act out imaginary scenes for an audience. The art form has been developing since its invention over 2,500 years ago and throughout the years it has diversified into different cultures and styles according to the country it is performed in. Usually Theatre is known as the pastime of the rich and middle classes because it was usually expensive to obtain a ticket, but in the modern times this has changed with the appearance of London’s West End and New York’s Broadway – making theatre (musicals in particular) more accessible to everyone. I intend to examine the past, present and future of this topic and how it is depicted in the media and how culturally significant it has been in the past. I aim to look at how the theatre of the past has inspired contemporary art and society, and how it has developed into the modern day theatre we know. I will then look to the horizon of this topic and forecast how it will feature in future products and media – and if the public will still be interested in it.

'Jewels'

The second topic of my research will be ‘jewels’ and how they have been significant in the media and in other ways throughout the years. Jewels have been incredibly popular since they were dug out the ground many years ago, traditionally showing that the wearer is wealthy and can afford such expensive decorations. They have caused much conflict because of their value and so they are mentioned in the media frequently. More recently though, technology has allowed cheaper fake jewels to be manufactured – making them available to the average person. Once again I will investigate the past, present and future of this topic and explore how it has been significant.