FEATURE:
The Painter’s Link
IN THIS PHOTO: Kate Bush circa 1980/PHOTO CREDIT: John Carder Bush
Imagining an Immersive Kate Bush Art Experience
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I got this idea…
IN THIS PHOTO: Inside Frameless – Immersive Art Experience
when recently visiting Frameless in London. It is the ultimate immersive art experience. Located near Marble Arch Tube, you are in this building where there are several galleries. Instead of merely looking at paintings, they are projected onto the walls, ceiling and the floor. Some galleries feature paintings that come alive and interact. Others pieced together gradually. You feel like have stepped inside the frames. It is a fascinating idea and I would recommend anyone – regardless of whether you are an art lover or not – to visit. The galleries in Frameless are Beyond Reality, Colour in Motion, The World Around Us and The Art of Abstraction. My favourite was The World Around us, which featured paintings by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn and Rachel Ruysch. It is captivating experience that makes these sublime works of art more cinematic and tangible. Like you are stepping into the imagination of the artist. It struck me that this has not really been done beyond art. Well, not in music at least. With A.I. being a bit conversation point in terms of artists’ rights and intellectual property – with A.I. threatening their music and rights -, this would be something different. Using technology to relevant artists and their music rather than steal or threaten. Being in that space and watching artwork come to life all around me and other people was a wonderful moment. In features past about Kate Bush, I have talked about possibly bringing Hounds of Love’s The Ninth Wave to life. Bringing it to the screen and adapting it. Maybe a photography exhibition. Something multimedia. However, coming away from Frameless seemed to combine a Kate Bush film, live performance and immersive experience.
In terms of bringing her work to life, there could be this gallery dedicated to Hounds of Love. Singles such as Hounds of Love and Cloudbusting being translated into a Frameless-style experience. Maybe they would replicate the look of the music video but it would mean you get these stunning visuals and this immersive experience all around. The Ninth Wave is where it comes to life. For those who never saw Bush perform it during her 2014 Before the Dawn residency, this would be a new adaptation. A way of bringing us in and around the ocean. Get to see Bush’s heroine fight for survival. Maybe a gallery of section that would visualise 1979’s The Tour of Life. Taking audio from a set and including sounds from the audience as we get a representation of Kate Bush performing these magical numbers. Or perhaps Before the Dawn. It would not be possible to have all of her albums in their own gallery, but we have Aerial and A Sky of Honey that would be breathtaking. Another suite she performed during Before the Dawn. Maybe early singles from Wuthering Heights (1978’s The Kick Inside) to later ones such as The Sensual World (from 1989’s album of the same name). Maybe thematic. Love and passion in one gallery. The darker and more cinematic in another. Situated in London, and maybe able to take over a space similar to Frameless – only a bigger building I feel -, I think it would be a great way that keeps Kate Bush’s music evolving. Bringing it alive to a whole new generation. The weather and water. The macabre and scary. The panoramic and scenic. Keeping the original music, this would not be an A.I. version of Kate Bush. Instead, something similar to a painting. Something in that style.
There might never be another Kate Bush live show. Maybe no more music videos featuring her. perhaps no new video or one that reimagines an older song. It would not necessarily have to be tied to an anniversary. However, in 2028, that is when Kate Bush’s debut album, The Kick Inside, turns fifty. I know that is nearly three years away from that anniversary. However, in terms of visualising something and getting it ready, it may take that long. It would be an expensive project to complete. However, in terms of popularity and how it could get people flocking in, it would definitely be a big success. I am aware that it is a big commitment to a single artist. Even The Beatles or David Bowie has not got anything like that. An exhibition that immerses listeners in their music. You feel it is overdue for The Beatles. Even Madonna. However, when it comes to Kate Bush, I feel she very much thinks like an artist. Hearing colours and seeing sounds. The relationship between words and music like few other artists. How her songs, in some ways, feel like works of art. Of films. And yet, only a portion have been brought to film. Never really realised in this immersive and panoramic way. I did not go to Before the Dawn. However brilliant the visuals and production, it was not quite what you would get from something like Frameless. In terms of downsides. I guess Kate Bush would be wary of technology adapting her music and visuals. However, this is not A.I. stealing music. Maybe some feel it is quite niche or a gamble doing something this big for one artist. Perhaps not as worthy of others. That is fair enough. That said, I feel that Kate Bush’s brilliance and vision would be perfectly suited to the same sort of experience that Frameless offers to works of art. Maybe it would open up discussion about visualising music and using technology in a positive way. Going beyond music videos and concerts. Imagining Kate Bush’s music reimagined and transformed in an immersive art experience would be…
SOMETHING spectacular.