For those not in the know, Devilvet recently directed, starring Don Hall, Dave Goss, and Jen Ellison.  Unfortunately, due to a combination of factors, including the recession, high gas prices, rising unemployment (particularly on my part) and a sad-faced clown in a giant mushroom car who assaulted me on the streets of Atlanta with a giant rubber dong, I was unable to attend this most excellent production.

Fortunately, dv is creating an excellent webcomic, which you can check out at The Mammals, for those of us who were unable to attend.

No, this is not just a plug for dv’s webcomic (it’s great, though, check it out here!)  You see, Devilvet and I were Twittering about artists and our relationship with multimedia.  For those of you who missed it, it was a rather nice conversation.  DV  and I Tweet often, so if you’d like to follow along, go visit Twitter’s webpage and sign in, then visit the Director and Devilvet’s twitter pages and click on the “Follow” button to follow us.  I’ll write another post on Twitter, if you need help finding a decent client.  Or you could just use the website itself.

Where was I?  Oh, right, Elvis..  no, wait, artists.  Artists and penguins.  Multimedia.  Whatever.

So dv and I were discussing this issue and he asked:

what are the possiblities if we as theatre artists get over it and become narrative artists using multi-medium approaches?

To clarify, he’s referring not only to use in live productions but in ADDITION to our live performances.  His webcomic (i’m not plugging this webcomic.  dude, seriously.) is a great example of what he’s talking about.  Recently, I wrote a post regarding “While You Sleep” activities that theatres can do to boost revenue.  What Devilvet is doing with The Mammals is the same thing.  It may not be bringing in revenue, but it’s surely bringing in an audience.

So we chit-chatted about artists and media approaches and ultimately, we (by “we” I mean “I”) decided that this was too good of an idea to let up.  Why let audiences see our art in only one medium?  Why not branch out?  Here’s our conversation:

directorsector @devilvet Yes, technology does aid in that example. I’m pretty good at Photoshop/Illustrator, for instance. Let me put it this way, though

directorsector How many of your theatre friends are good at math? Most think the complicated computer stuff like Photoshop et al at least as tough to learn

devilvet well i think people have to learn skills to survive. Math and Photoshop included.

devilvet anyone who doesnt acquire these skills opens themselves to well being a victim

devilvet I increasing think that the future means that specialization in the arts must end. The truly exceptional artist in the future has to be able to utilize much more than an theatrical talent that comes naturally to them. Working hard at things outside your comfort zone that’s not art. thats life. we need a world with les actors waiting to be cast, and rather more collaborators ready willing and excited to share and participate in narrative storytelling. it wont be about pointing actors to their marks. it will be more involving than that

directorsector @devilvet You’re exactly right. Cant do it alone. So how do we go about cultivating artists who explore the realm outside their comfort zone?

So there we are.  How do we, as artists who want to inspire, create and share, expand our grasp of other media using modern technology (or even older techniques)?  And once we’ve learned to do that, to reach out beyond just live theatre, how do we reach out and cultivate other artists to explore other media as well?

I may not be able to draw worth a shit, as I mentioned to devilvet, but I’m pretty damn good with computers.  How can I utilize that expertise to share my art or expand my artistic influence?

What are you good at, besides performances/directing/playwriting?  And how can you tie the two passions together and share your art in other ways?