Myth and Audiovisual Creation
22-23 October 2018
Universidad Francisco de Vitoria
Organization:
In addition to the holy book that inspires faith, the Bible is also a writing that gathers the fascinating story of the vicissitudes of a man seeking answers to the mystery of existence beyond him. It is the historical compendium of human testimonies touched by the supernatural, a reflection of the identity of a man who does not resign himself to being an accident, but rather intuits the closeness of the sacred and perseveres in communicating with the transcendent.
The long history of Christianity exhibits a common iconography, but with styles and artistic approaches that are an example of plurality in the interpretation of events in the Old and New Testaments. From the emotive ingenuity of the pre-Romanesque to the recharged verismo of the baroque; from the austerity of Gregorian chant to the spectacularity of polyphony. Around the faith of the facts gathered in the Bible, the Western artistic community has shown an overwhelming inspiration and an inexhaustible ability to regenerate the message over time under various and evocative approaches.
Project The Game Bible, of the Tornado Twins, currently in development.
The capacity of human beings to keep alive the timeless message of a sacred book like the Bible through their creativity is at the core of Francisco de Vitoria University´s proposal at the V International Conference on Myth and Audiovisual Media Creation (2018). We, therefore, invite the university scientific community to reflect on the forms and formats in which contemporary audiovisual civilization makes visible what is narrated in the Bible. How the artistic creativity interprets, from 1900 to the present, what it is related to the Old and the New Testament.
Bill Viola before ‘Martyrs (earth, air, fire, water)’, his work installed on the altar of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. Photo: Andy Rain (El País)
We propose not only to delve into what would be traditional arts, but above all, in the analysis of the treatment received by these sacred writings by the new forms of audiovisual creation in the scene of contemporary digital society; that is, in the realms of leisure-entertainment and information —Film, TV, video games, music— and how these new artistic expressions have conditioned the narrated.
Remarkable examples that invite us to review this interpretation can be found in recent productions made in virtual reality as “Jesus VR. The Story of Christ”. Regarding video games, we can cite the impressive database of Vincent González on video games related to religion; a good example of this field is the project The Game Bible, of Tornado Twins, in current development process. In the area of contemporary art, we find the aspiration of collecting the transcendence of Christian iconography in Bill Viola and his HD screen retables exposed in St. Paul’s Cathedral in London. In regards to music, the U2 group gives us examples of world success records. And in the field of television series, we have AD. Kingdom and Empire (Netflix, 2015).