Media comparison A media designer is burdened with inserting effective function within compelling communication. To accomplish the task of delivering a full and innovative media expressions, one must understand the possibilities and opportunities of the commercial world context. The developed societies of today have produced an infinite array of tools, mechanisms and opportunities for creative application of form and ideology. The meta-narrative of the contemporary visual space is textured by grain ranging from conceptual to pragmatic. To serve a widest possible audience is the bedrock of consumption-oriented marketplace, the physical and perceptual media privileges blandness and predictability. The creators occupying that space are confronted with a dilemma - could they use an established media to present, new functions and/or new meaning? Could they work against the grain and yet be part of the mainstream? What is permissible within the boundaries of the spectacle? “ The spectacle is not a collection of images; rather, it is a social relationship between people that is mediated by images.”(1) “ A magazine about the rest of the world”(4) originated by the Benetton fashion company Colors has rattled the world since 1993. Prior to the launching of the magazine, Benetton had its following as a fashion house specialized in knitted garments. Realizing that its future was highly dependent on building a memorable global brand the company launched a massive communication effort head-pined by a by-monthly magazine, while recruiting Tibor Kalman as the main creative force behind it. Taking a stand that life is full of contradiction as well as pains and pleasures, he created a universe of, emotionally textured ideas. It tackles subjects from birth to death and anything in-between. The format is simple little writing and many pictures. Catering to a global brand and addressing a global audience the magazine uses an effective strategy of communicating exclusively through images. Published in several languages and distributed worldwide one is dazzled by the eclecticism of the chosen subjects, which are unraveled in a profound but approachable manner. The magazine format has a long history and established practices, which have been under review for as long as it existed as a media format. It is virtually unknown for a fashion giant to have its own relevant media outlet. That space is occupied by high publishing outlets with their own ideas of what is in style. The marriage of high fashion and high publishing is quite symbiotic. In the words of its creators as well as its critics “Vogue is the world's fashion authority”. Its relationship to fashion is direct and one might say predictable - mostly celebratory and technical to the detail of what is worthy and what is not. The proposition is that one must look no further for a manual on personal outfitting, be in style. Every choice is distinctly branded and quantified while covering perfect bodies in compelling situations. On the contrary, Benetton, with its own communication vehicle, chooses to represent something else, which is not only remarkable but also unprecedented. While it still aims to influence end even define visual culture and by implication fashion, its approach is unmistakably obvious. One must look no further than the photography filling the pages of each edition. Garments with none or random branding presented in situations of daily occurrences speak with unmatched immediacy and are interwoven with profound human condition. Using the power of photographic juxtaposition and meticulous curatorial touch, a striking narrative emerges from the pages. A distinct manifestation of the approach is the double issue No. 38 – 39 of year 2000. As with all other issues there is little written word and an extravagant compilation of imagery. It must be noted that the cover introduces the content in an immediate yet subversive way. It reads “extra ordinary fashion; 233 looks; 5,508 models” in English and Spanish. The text is embedded in a photograph prominently featuring an American female wrestler dressed in an evening gown. It is a photograph speaking directly to the position of the publishers in the fashion world. Developing an international brand mandates a worldly presentation. The photographic narrative that follows travels through distant lands populated by people, ideas, occupations and most of all wearables of extraordinary eclecticism. A sample sequence of images in the order of their appearance include: lawn bowlers from Johannesburg; a limo driver from New Orleans; orthodox Jews in Jerusalem; Biker, his cat and a ridding companion from Daytona Beach followed by a picture assemblage of pilots, policeman, gay men, Inca Indians, nuns and many more. The sequence flows impeccably do to its reference of color, texture, context and expressiveness. It feels like a complete earthly journey without apparent physical movement. The egalitarian juxtaposition of gender, class, sexuality or any other personalization, communicates a unity of purpose and meaning. It is a voyage into humanity in its natural setting. The faces and bodies of the protagonists are of stark contrast to the models staring at us from the pages of Vogue magazine and the likes. As evident the cloth of high fashion is not the cloth of reality. According to Guy Debord “Images detached from every aspect of life merge into a common stream and the former unity of life is lost forever. Apprehended in a partial way, reality unfolds in a new generality as a pseudo-world apart, solely as an object of contemplation.”(1) While Tibor Kalman has had to withstand a barrage of criticism and direct accusation of opportunism, he managed to connect the reality of everyday life as seen by billions of people around the world with the context of fashion in a way never seen before. "My quandary was that designers have been taught to be liars. They have been taught to use their skills -- just like lawyers and accountants -- to distort information. I was not against anyone personally, I just had all these questions about what we were doing."(5) The conception of real people wearing real cloths within real context of Colors is in a stark contrast with the conventional, highly manicured, presentations of fashion being broadcasted by the mainstream media. While the provocateurs of Colors have built hyper awareness of their brand and its unique narrative style, the television show Boomtown delivered an original cop drama, which was critically acclaimed and generated cult following after only one season. Regretfully, NBC, which have originally aired the drama, has canceled it at the beginning of its second season. Apparently the cult following was not substantial enough to warrant its existence. Nevertheless its creative merit is undeniable. The cop-drama genre has been a steady staple of the television networks for most of their existence. With an endless stream of such shows one assumes that they will collectively exhaust the infinite loops of crime and punishment. Apparently life generates enough material to continuously inspire the creators of that genre. Meanwhile, the unfolding of a narrative structure has evolved immensely, where a multi-point perspective and asymmetric storytelling has reached a wider acceptability. Capitalizing on that state of understanding the creators of Boomtown, Graham Yost and Jon Avnet, have created a highly innovative and challenging treatment of a police drama. The character protagonists include - detectives, cops, paramedics, a journalist and city officials – an eclectic group of intertwined occupations. In a conventional story arch progression is resolved in the typical one-hour screen time slot, with a conclusive triumph of the law over social menace. This show takes a bit different approach – described as Rashomon meets Pulp Fiction. The episodes pursue a sense of resolution through unconventional, syncopated and challenging construction. According to the producers/creators the viewers could assemble the narrative out of bits and clues, which put together will tell the story. Viewer is required to juxtapose and connect bits and pieces of situations and clues to formulate the complete object of the storyline. There are numerous jumps in time and shifts of perspective. While the dialog is fairly indistinct the structure and the filming is compelling and requires mental participation. Most central situations have multiple points of views. While the characters’ POVs are clearly identified, including fades to name cards (white on black character name), many parts of the story are left to be decoded. In most of the plot points one sees the perspectives of several participating characters, which have their own experience and their own perception of what has just one witnessed. Each round of experience furthers the details available to the viewer, as all perspectives converge to a final resolution. Furthermore, the paths of many protagonists crisscross each other in unexpected ways blending past, present and possible future. With all of its cleverness and originality the drama could not survive the apathy of the wider audience. Apparently not all great ideas and original story telling devices are ready for prime time. The viewership of television has established itself as the ultimate voyeuristic experience. The expectation is to be provided with an escape through endless entertainment, with minimum or no effort. Furthermore, there is expectation of freshness and even originality. From the keeper’s of the media point of view, they need to attract and hold millions and mullions of eyeballs so their supporters can sell more Tide, Tylenol and Toyotas. It appears that the viewers prefer simple and predictable spectacle to escape into. Though with what will the suggested 500 television channels will be filled, after all? According to Marshal McLuhan “The viewer is involved and participant.”(McLuhan, 318) So the question one might ask is: in what is the viewer involved and in what does he/she participate? Using feature film as a mean to deliver spectacle of megalithic proportions, Lord of the Rings trilogy does just that interpreting the original writings of J.R. Tolkien for the large screen. A testament of its power and impact is the extensive fan base worldwide. The books have been in circulation since late 1950s and they have amassed a substantial following. Yet it was only with the release of the feature film version of the books, when the complete power of the author’s imagination could awe the world. In contrast with some of the more Avant-Guarde film making approaches the storytelling does not rely on any special narrative building techniques, though overwhelms with scale and depth of linear storytelling. It required the authoring vision of the Tolkien and the cinematic grandeur of the director Peter Jackson to fulfill the potential of the story. While the scene-by-scene progression invites us on a journey both inward and outward, the perceptual textures painstakingly created by the film crew allows us to touch a space of mythical proportions. The characters are wide-ranging not only in appearance, but also in their attitudes and destiny. The presentation is so consuming that one is transported even beyond the classic suspension of disbelief – a sign of extraordinary filmmaking skill. The darkness of the landscape where time is advanced by an inevitable doom permeates all frames. Hopes, desires, doubts, heroism and sacrifice are signified through unmistakable signifiers. The power of the large screen spectacle can and will transform the J.R.Tolkien’s book into an entertainment property, which will endure through the vision of his creators, most notably Peter Jackson. Scale and grandeur is often present in architectural marvels. Buildings not only trap air and host furnishing but more importantly create a context for infinite array of human expressions. A building’s program defines how a structure should feel and function. Many of the arts have used each other as inspiration as well as used its each others services to formulate and propel its own meaning. Buildings not only served as hosting space but as a beacon for their content. The latest addition to the plethora of examples of superb symbiosis is the newly opened Disney Hall in the heart of Los Angles. Taken years to complete and surviving a tumultuous developmental process, the Hall is a triumph of humanistic proportion. A generous gift by the widow of Walt Disney, Lillian, of $50 million to the city of Los Angeles for the building a dedicated musical hall began the process. As with any public project of such scale and impact, it was politicized, ran over budget and prolonged profusely. At the end the vision of a one of a kind architect not only survived, but elevated the landscape to a never seen before heights. Frank Gehry’s grander has been steadily rising through the decades of his professional practice. After he completed the Bilbao’s Guggenheim museum he has officially defined himself as a one of the leading architectural visionaries of the 21st century. “the Frank Gehry-designed Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, has created thousands of new jobs, pumped hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy and almost single-handedly turned a dying postindustrial city into an international tourist destination. That phenomenon today is widely referred to in cultural circles as “the Bilbao effect.””(5) Attracting thousands of visitors, creating thousands of jobs and Millions of Dollars in revenue, museum proved to be a cultural icon with the power to rejuvenate its contextual space. The architect’s vision of organic scale and flow entice and at times overwhelm. The emotional content of his creations is irrefutable. The attitudes permeating his designs gave shape to his latest - Disney Hall. Described, as a ship with its sails filed up it is ready to take the city into a cultural prominence divorced from its Hollywood dependence. The structure dazzles with its unconventionality in respect to its predetermined function. Its immediate program is to be the home of Los Angels Philharmonic, which has never had its own. As a matter of process Gehry has spent an extensive amount of time with the performers, which his creation had to serve. As he describe it, it begun from the center outward. How does an orchestra function in a more intimate level than a concert performance? What are its needs from a building structure/system? How do they connect to their audience? Many questions had to be answered on only on a visceral but also on emotional level. From rehearsal spaces to acoustics to communal relationship, the structure had to function effectively at all times for diverse purposes and audiences. After soaking in musical ambiance of the orchestra and its guest stars, Frank Gehry generated a series of sketches reminiscent more of a stream of conciseness doodles than architectural designs. As his process evolved and took more and more definitive expression, elaborate dimensional forms sprung out of his ideation. It was apparent that unprecedented architectural landmark was born. With the admission of most experts, there is no other music hall in the world where form and function meet in such unprecedented way. In the words of the architect, during the final building stages he brought Esa-Peka Salonen, the music director/conductor of the philharmonic, and the first violin of the orchestra in the semi-completed hall. Beauty of the sound test brought tears to their eyes. There are very few straight lines throughout the interior and exterior of the structure. Architectural form has traveled a long distance from the endlessly revived antiquity and the severe modernist boxes defining cityscapes around the world. A symphony of curvatures, volumes and above all superior acoustics dazzle and even awe. As if the shaping of the structure is not sufficient to impress, the exterior is covered with the stainless stele sheets attached to an exposed skeleton only by silicon tape. Their shimmer under the endless Southern California sunshine is a signal of the city rejuvenation. Light and reflections compose an urban narrative true to its surroundings. It must be noted that the elaborate design lines would have been almost impossible to execute without the use of a sophisticated computer design software (CATIA), originally used to design high end aircrafts in Europe. The architectural program is revealed through a vast set of clues. For example the “tree trunk” columns are covered with Douglas fir – used in many musical instruments. The use of large screen plasma screens strategically dispersed among the interior allows for uninterrupted connection between the stage and the other internal spaces within the structure. Remarkably, there are no acoustically disadvantageous sitting arrangements. With a 360-degree sits around the stage one can personalize one’s experience of the unfolding spectacle. Moreover, the remarkable acoustics help fulfill the central role of the hall – to deliver an extraordinary musical experience in the most egalitarian way. The main concert space is the largest musical instrument inside the Hall and it will continue to be tuned in for at least a year. Another prominent fixture of the interior is the pipe organ, which has one of the most unusual, designs ever built. It will also be continuously tuned for a year after the opening of Disney Hall, unprecedented yet accepted as a logical development considering the scope and importance of the project. The exceptionally crafted exterior surfaces are complimented by functional and decorative spaces intended to connect the Hall with its city context. Providing many observation points outward, the architect allowed direct visual linkage between important city structures as well as simple indulgence with the more spectacular vistas of Los Angeles. Several stairwells provide for uninterrupted access to and from the building surroundings including the outdoor garden and outdoor performance spaces. “ The spectacle appears at once as society itself, as a part of society and as a means of unification. As a part of society, it is that sector where all attention, all consciousness, converges. Being isolated – and precisely for that reason – this sector is the locust illusion and false consciousness; the unity it imposes is merely the official language of generalized separation.”(1) Most of the parties involved, the city and private entities and individuals, are convinced that Disney Hall is the signature icon of a city long dominated by celluloid ones. It is a place where the residents from West and East could meet for a common experience. The programming of the musical activities is designed to appeal to a wide range of social strata defining the city. It is widely believe that such central point will spark a long desired redevelopment of the city center, which never truly existed. Those hopes have their critics. The noted Los Angles media, architecture critic and urbanite, Norman Klein believes that, while the building is an impressive accomplishment the so hoped energizing of the city will not materialize. Only time will tell whose predictions are correct. The conceptual and functional space, in which contemporary media operates has an insatiable appetite for spectacle. The perpetuation of the spectacle is its sole purpose for existence. Designers are the craftsmen crafting images, promoting messages and enticing audiences. Since the invention of a civilized world, there has been an extensive use of media forms to serve its existence. The core is the tension between expression and purpose, which mutually defines the media space and by extension the spectacle. While its existence is inescapable the methods of presentation and engagement can emolliate its vast side effects and even offer alternative possibilities. Colors magazine succeeds in running against the grain of conventional media-scape with originality and wit. While the small and large screen mediums must bare different burdens. Since the direct experience of them is limited to their screen time they must capture and involve audiences in an instant fashion. They have been packaged and delivered as a readymade TV dinners. Designer’s challenge is to use that predicament and plant the seeds of alternative worldviews, which could lead to redefinition of the spectacle. Lastly, the media of physical space – architecture, invites human presence to participate in formation of experience and meaning. Extraordinary physical volumes could energize a space struggling to find its destiny. A touch of a creative mastery is the fastest way to accomplish that. The spectacle is practically unavoidable as a predicament, yet a media designer has the power to steer it to unintended destinations, which could render its primal construct irrelevant. Attack spectacle with spectacle. Notes 1. Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle trans. Donald Nicholson-Smith (New York, Zone Books, 1997) 2. Marshal McLuhan, Understanding Media: the extension of man (Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT Press, 1997) 3. Colors, No. 38 – 39, June – September 2000 4. Benetton.com/colors 5. Artandculture.com 5. LA Times Calendar