the rich dynamics of culture and technology - pat kane, the play ethic

THE RICH DYNAMICS OF CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY

PAT KANE, THE PLAY ETHIC CONVERGENCE CULTURE SYMPOSIUM, SEOUL, DEC 16, 2015

I AM PAT KANE

Director of The Play Ethic (www.theplayethic.com)Curator, FutureFest (www.futurefest.org)Editor/Journalist/WriterPop Musician www.patkane.today

LEE SOO MAN: “CULTURAL TECHNOLOGY”

MY 3 CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY COVERGENCES

1.FESTIVAL: FUTUREFEST

2.MEDIA: JOURNALISM, DEMOCRACY AND TECH

3.MUSIC: BEYOND K-POP?

CONCLUSION : HALLYU AND THE PLAY ETHIC

Lee Soo Man on “Cultural Technology”

“Cultural technology is much more exquisite and complex than information technology”Stanford, April 19, 2011 [Play video 1.1]

In UK, relations of culture and technology have a civic and social, as well as a commercial dimension

3 examples of C&T from my practice:

Festival: FutureFestMedia: Journalism, Democracy & Tech

Music: After K-Pop?

[Play video1.2]

FESTIVAL – AN ANCIENT AND GLOBAL PRACTICE AND TRADITION

JOYFUL, DIVERSE, ENERGETIC EXPRESSION OF THE COMMUNITY – CITY, REGIONAL, NATIONAL, OCCUPATIONAL, UTOPIAN…

CHUSEOK

ANTWERP, 17TH CENTURY

BURNING MAN, US, 2015

FESTIVALS FEATURE SHAMEN/ORACLES…

BRINGING INSIGHT, WISDOM, STRATEGY TO COMMUNITY, FROM WIDER WORLD & DEEPER REALMS

WE HAVE THEM IN MODERN TIMES TO0 - AT TED, WIRED, FUTUREFEST…



VIVIENNEWESTWOOD

BERTOLT MEYER

GEORGE CLINTON

FESTIVALS ARE FAIRS – WHERE TECHNIQUE IS DEMONSTRATED, STORIES TOLD, CONNECTIONS MADE, PLEASURES CONSUMED, DEALS DONE

“THE BEST WAY TO PREDICT THE FUTURE IS TO INVENT IT” – ALAN KAY


ANOTHER WAY TO GET READY FOR THE FUTURE IS TO IMAGINE IT IN ADVANCE… ANCIENT FESTIVALS HAVE DRAMA AND RITUAL MODERN ONES HAVE IMMERSIONS AND DESIGN FICTIONS


[PLAY VIDEO 1.3]


Festival: FutureFest

Media: Journalism, Democracy & Tech Music: After K-Pop?


I AM A FOUNDING EDITOR OF SUNDAY HERALD (SCOTLAND), LAUNCHED IN 1999 – UNDER NEW SCOTS PARLIAMENT

IN 2011, UK & SCOTTISH GOVTS AGREED A REFERENDUM ON SCOTTISH NATION-STATE INDEPENDENCE – 18TH SEPT, 2014

PAPERS AVAILABLE IN SCOTLAND WERE ALMOST ENTIRELY SUPPORTING “NO”…EXCEPT SUNDAY HERALD, 4TH MAY, 2014


And then the vote… [Play video 1.3]


FOUR RESULTS FROM SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM:

1) SEPT 18TH, 2014: SCOTLAND VOTES AGAINST INDY: YES – 45%, NO – 55%

2) THE SCOTTISH NATIONAL PARTY (FOR INDY) GAINS 100,000 NEW MEMBERS – THEN WINS 56 FROM 59 SEATS IN UK GENERAL ELECTION IN MAY 2015

3) THE SUNDAY HERALD DEFIES HISTORIC DECLINE IN CIRCULATION IN PAPERS – INCREASES BY 15%, RIVALS DECLINE BY 20% (AUG 2015)


4) AN ENTIRELY NEW PAPER IS LAUNCHED BY OWNERS OF SUNDAY HERALD – THE NATIONAL (FOR WHICH I WRITE) – CELEBRATING ITS FIRST YEAR

SIMPLE LESSON – LISTEN TO CONSUMERS/CITIZENS! 45% OF SCOTTISH POPULATION HAD NO NEWSPAPER ECHOING THEIR WORLDVIEW, OUT OF 30+ TITLES AVAILABLE IN SCOTLAND. NOW TWO, AT LEAST…

TECH/BIZ RESPONDS TO CULTURE!


WHAT OF DIGITAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA, DURING THE INDEPENDENCE REFERENDUM?

VERY STRONG – ANTICIPATES THE NEWSPAPER SHIFT…

BELLA CALEDONIA LAUNCHED IN 2007WINGS OVER SCOTLAND IN 2011- BOTH PROVIDE OPINION, IDEAS,

MEDIA MONITORING FOR SCOTTISH INDEPENDENCE SUPPORTERS

THEY CROWDFUNDED £150,000 TO SUPPORT THEIR ACTIVITIES


INDEPENDENCE THINK-TANK COMMON WEAL LAUNCHES COMMON SPACE IN NOVEMBER 2014 - PAID FOR BY MONTHLY DONORS

AIMS TO PROVIDE A PROGRESSIVE NEWS SERVICE......AND WILL INTEGRATE THIS WITH SOCIAL NETWORKING FUNCTIONS, AIMED AT ACTIVISTS AND CITIZENS, IN 2016

I AM ON THE BOARDS OF BOTH BELLA CALEDONIA AND COMMON SPACE


SO IN SCOTLAND, A NEW MEDIA ECOSYSTEM,GENERATED IN RESPONSE TO SOCIAL AND POLITICAL CHANGE...

AN EXAMPLE OF “THE RICH DYNAMICS OF CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY”?

LEE SOO-MAN, 2011 STANFORD LECTURE

“The internet makes possible a transcendence of time, space and knowledge” – yes, with pop music (next section)

But Net can also be an INTENSIFICATION of T/S/K – can aid citizens in pursuing their rights, give them tools to organise and self-inform


HAS MAYOR WON SOON PARK’S ELECTION 2011 – “CITIZENS ARE THE MAYOR” – GENERATED SIMILAR INNOVATION IN CITIZENS’ MEDIA?

IS THERE A ROUTE TO INNOVATION AND CONVERGENCE IN MEDIA THROUGH NEEDS OF CITIZENS, AS WELL AS THROUGH APPETITES OF CONSUMERS/PROSUMERS?


Festival: FutureFest

Media: Journalism, Democracy & Tech

Music: After K-Pop?

I was a pop musician in the UK – and I still am

Hue And Cry“Labour of Love” 2012 – 2013 – 1987

[Play video 1.4]

…but not as good as K-Pop!

G-Dragon, “Crayon”, 2012

“Why so serious?”

[Play video 1.5]


K-POP: Very much in the classic “pop” tradition – disciplined performers, great teams, working on product. Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Take That, Destiny’s Child, X-Factor

K-Pop also perfect example of convergence of culture and technology... Lee Soo Man working on a fusion of robots, celebrities and big data... (October 25th 2015)


K-PUNK?

K-ROCK?

K-ALT? K-DUBSTEP?

BUT IS THERE SOMETHING AFTER THE “POP” IN K-POP...

...K-NEXT? WHAT ARE THE BEST CONDITIONS?


ONE OF THE “RICH DYNAMICS OF CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY” IN UK/US/EURO MUSIC…

...IS THAT CULTURAL FRUSTRATION IS EXPRESSED THRU TECHNOLOGY – CREATING NEW FORMS, VOICES, PRACTICES

BRIAN ENO – NOT GENIUS, BUT “SCENIUS” – THE WAY A BOHEMIAN/ALTERNATIVE QUARTER CAN GENERATE NEW CULTURAL FORMS. HOXTON... HONGDAE? (홍대 )

LEE SOO MAN: “CULTURAL TECHNOLOGY”

MY 3 CULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY COVERGENCES

1.FESTIVAL: FUTUREFEST

2.MEDIA: JOURNALISM, DEMOCRACY AND TECH

3.MUSIC: BEYOND K-POP?

CONCLUSION : HALLYU AND THE PLAY ETHIC

WHAT KIND OF CREATIVITY, ART AND PLAY DOES A CONFIDENT NATION SUPPORT?

“HALLYU” – THE KOREAN WAVE – POWERFUL IN MUSIC AND TV

…BUT WILL K-ART, K-CRITIQUE, K-NOBEL-PRIZE-FOR-LITERATURE COME NEXT...?

MY 2004 BOOK “THE PLAY ETHIC”

TALKS NOT ABOUT CHILDRENS PLAYGROUNDS - BUT ADULT “GROUNDS OF PLAY”

WHAT ARE THE BEST CONDITIONS TO SUPPORT A SOCIETY’S CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION?

WHEN COMPLEX MAMMALS FEEL:

-- SECURE-- WITHOUT STRESS-- UNTHREATENED -- BEYOND SCARCITY

- THEY PLAY AND CREATE FREELY AND POWERFULLY

A STRONG SOCIETY LIKE THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA…

…CAN BE A “GROUND OF PLAY” FOR ITS CREATORS, ENTREPRENEURS & CITIZENS

...LIKE GOOD PARENTS ALLOW THEIR CHILDREN TO GROW UP AND MAKE THEIR OWN MISTAKES, FORGE THEIR UNIQUE PATH, WITHOUT JUDGEMENT

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

PAT KANEDirector of The Play Ethic (www.theplayethic.com)Curator, FutureFest (www.futurefest.org)Editor/Journalist/WriterPop Musician www.patkane.today