By Eduardo de Moraes Ponzoni, São Paulo, 11/05/2011

3^rd Semester – System Analysis and Development

Since the most ancient civilizations mankind has faced the need of entertainment, which has been improved along the centuries. At the same pace, humans started developing and applying technology in order to help areas such as communication, economy, engineering, medicine, military and (why not?) entertainment activities.

As the years passed by, several kinds of activities have been created to please or distract people using the technology available at that given time. In ancient Rome for example, during one of the darkest periods for the empire, in order to avoid a popular revolt, the Emperor created the “Bread and Circuses”, which was a group of activities to provide “fun and food” for plebs inside of one of the greatest creations of Roman engineering: The Coliseum.

Back to the present day, think of current entertainment activities. Arts, music, theme parks, travelling, sports, videogames and internet (social networking) might be a few of the activities that came to your mind. Now, think for a few seconds and answer: Are you able to conceive any of these activities without technology?

If you said NO, you are right and we are going to tell you why.

If you said YES, you’d better think again.

Let’s start remembering the concept behind the word TECHNOLOGY: Technology comes from the Greek words “Téchné” (which means art in the sense of “produce something, getting to know on what is produced” and “Logos” (which means thinking, knowledge). So, we could say that technology is the creation and usage of knowledge, tools and techniques to produce or enhance something.

Brushing technology in the arts

Now let’s explore the usage of technology in arts. Who has never seen the picture entitled “Monalisa”? Monalisa is one of the greatest creations of Leonardo DaVinci. Obviously, Leonardo DaVinci was a genius and exceptionally talented, but how could he create any of his pictures or engineering pieces without technology? From the transformation of cellulose into papers, wood and tissues into frames and brushes, until the set of techniques and engineering applied by Leonardo DaVinci, it’s all about technology. Still talking about arts, how could it be possible to conceive cinema without technology? The seventh art is the art of imitating life by projecting images to create the impression of movement. Only through technology it’s possible to capture and exhibit movies with all those special effects that blow our minds.

The role of technology in Music

What about music? Music is probably the most practiced and enjoyed entertaining activity throughout the world. Maybe that’s the reason for the phrase that a few people use to say when something seems too good:

“Oh, that sounds like music to my ears”.

Who doesn’t have a favorite song, and who’s the couple that doesn’t have a song to call their own? That particular song that when played on the radio makes the person turn up the volume and then close the eyes, bang the head and sing or move like beating drums or playing the chords of a guitar, or even say loving words. Music is all about entertainment, and all about technology. Music is related to technology, from the division of frets on the neck of a guitar and how to press and play the strings on the correct fret to the sound produced by amplifiers and speakers and the studio where the music is recorded and mixed.

But it is not only about the sound and instruments. Let’s talk about live music concerts. If you ever watch a live music concert, you might notice a little bit of all the technology and professionals involved. There is always a sound engineer and a lighting engineer. Regardless of the place where the concert is taking place, and if it’s indoor or outdoor, the sound engineer is in charge of all the reception and propagation of sound and assures that it happens correctly, clean and audible to the audience. The lighting engineer is responsible for ensuring the correct positioning and sequence of lights on the stage and audience during the concert and changing of music.

Can you now think about arts without technology?

As we have seen so far, entertainment and technology go together, and the word technology has a bigger meaning than the simple idea of computers. It involves all the developed techniques we use to produce so many things that are part of our daily lives. Furthermore, technology is part of our life since the beginning of times, and has been improved along the times, and that of course, includes entertainment.

To be continued…