ISSN 2411-0795
ISSN 2411-0795
Keywords: AR-opera, Komoltsev, Isahakyan, computer technology, the real, the virtual, stage
Available in the on-line version with: 30.03.2025
Artemova E.G. Experience of Synthesizing the Real and the Virtual in the Genre of the AR-Opera "The Love for the Three Zuckerbrins" by Konstantin Komoltsev. // Theory and History of Art. 2025. N 1, p.155–168 https://doi.org/10.24412/2411-0795-2025-1-155-168.
The article studies the AR-opera "Love for the Three Zuckerbrins" by Konstantin Komoltsev based on the novel by Victor Pelevin. The opera with an ironic title, which combines the names of the creator of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, and the one of Google, Sergey Brin, is an example of a renewal of the genre. Traditional means of live theater are combined here with new computer and visual systems, namely, augmented (AR) and virtual (VR) reality technologies, dynamic holograms, and computer-synthesized sound.
Born from the idea of creating a futuristic stage trilogy "Me, the robot" about the prohibitions of man and artificial intelligence, the opera became the first part of this trilogy; the second and third included the ballet "Bicentennial Man" based on the novel by Isaac Asimov and the computer drama "O-N-A" ('her') based on the film by Spike Jonze.
The method of musical theoretical analysis of the work showed that the language of the opera, dictated by its ideas, is eclectic and intertextual: the musical-stylistic mix is dominated by meditative, sonorous and concrete music, into which chorale and rap, spectralism and radio jingles penetrate.
The plot, unfolding in 11 films, consists of "pixels" of the familiar and computer worlds, between which it is almost impossible to draw a boundary. The stage language that became the console part of this work is extraordinary and technological. The version of transformed multidimensional reality, created by Georgy Isaakyan, connects single fragments of the linear history of individual people and fragments of the virtual world that has captured their consciousness, which can only be configured using special tablets. Episodes of this multiple reality are switched in clip mode, in which priests and mythological creatures, heroes of famous computer games and real people are created.
It is concluded that "Love for the Three Zuckerbrins" is the first experience in the AR-opera genre, in which real characters interact with virtual ones, and computer technology not only creates a stage image, but also penetrates into the essence of operatic dramaturgy.