Arts aficionado and commentator
By Nancy Kranzberg
Change is scary but inevitable, but whether it scares you or not, Marshall McCluhan was right on the mark. He of course is known for coining the expressions “the medium is the message” and “the global village” and predicted the world wide web years before we knew from www.com.
Shirley Baker,Vice Chancellor for Scholarly Resources and Dean of the University Libraries at Washington University says,”Our generation was raised to be literate (that is able to read and to be well read) and to be visually literate (able to look at paintings, buildings,sculpture and to appreciate it and understand what they communicate). But by mid-twentieth century the modes of transmission of information and culture were no longer static or on paper,on canvas,or in wood,stone,or concrete. They were time-dependent,they moved,were there and then were gone -radio, movies,T.V., the web. Now we struggle to comprehend these,as we once could more concrete,more stable objects.
Evan S. Benn wrote an article in the St.Louis Post Dispatch entitled “Culture Sites A Buzz With New Technology”. Some of his observations are that The Contemporary Art Museum now hands out i-pads to view the exhibits, one can easily search the collection of the History Museum on its website, Twitter and Facebook followers often get first dibs on tickets at the Fox, The St.Louis Symphony is frequently updating its blog and video blog. The St. Louis Zoo has a popular YouTube channel that gives surfers a front row seat to see warty pigs, swamp monkeys, penguins and more in action.
Jack Galmiche, President and CEO of The Nine Network of Public Media says, “The new technology and tools that are available today put enormous power in the hands of people who may have a story to tell or an informed opinion to share, but don’t know the best way to communicate it.
These tools can include portable video camcorders and digital editing software, as well as social media websites and techniques that enable communication with unprecedented reach and speed.
With all this new technology and ways of learning that McCluhan in his seer-like fashion predicted, I am more fine tuned into noticing the media in which we learn in the arts.Not so long ago in a much more elemental way when technology wasn’t nearly what it is today, major changes in viewing, hearing, and interpreting art were still being made.
Take for example a recent trip to Opera Theatre. I was reading the libretto on the electronic monitors and thinking that the medium was still the human voice–or is it?
And what about the paintings at the St.Louis Art Museum? Aren’t the paintings themselves the medium? I’m not so certain. After all, the lighting and architectural setting in which they are displayed become part of the medium
The same could be said of the music performed at the St.Louis Symphony. The music that the composer wrote is often altered by the acoustics and the lighting and in some cases the technically improved instruments. Even an original Stradivarius wouldn’t sound the same as it did when it was originally played.
Of course you don’t even need to go to the arts institutions. At first it was records and books, etc., but now you can get it online. Of course it’s not as stimulating and invigorating as being there.
Whether or not the changes have been as dramatic as computers over the years, Marshall McCluhan had the whole thing pegged.
Arts aficionado Nancy Kranzberg has been involved in the arts community for over thirty years. She serves on numerous arts affiliated boards including,The St.Louis Art Museum, Laumeier Sculpture Park,The Sheldon Arts Foundation and The Sheldon Art Gallery Board, Mid America Arts Alliance, Jazz St.Louis, The Contemporary Museum St.Louis, and is currently president of The Center for Humanities at U.M.S.L.
Nancy does arts interviews on radio station KDHX and makes arts commentaries on radio station KWMU.She is a docent at the St.Louis Art Museum and an honorary docent at Laumeier Sculpture Park.
She was named Woman of Achievement and was awarded The Distinguished Alumnae Award at Washington University.Nancy,along with her husband Kenneth,has also been the recipient of The Missouri Arts Award,The Arts and Education Award for lifetime achievement in the arts,The Barbara Rose Memorial Award given by Jazz St.Louis and numerous other honors and awards by St.Louis arts agencies and organizations. At age 60,Nancy became a jazz singer with The Second Half which features Chancellor Tom George of U.M.S.L. on the piano.
