Bob Dylan “Like A Rolling Stone”
The world of video is constantly evolving and the boundaries between technology and creative roles through expression are blurring. New technologies are allowing artists to expand their reach and empower a more visceral and interactive connection with their audience. While some artists have embraced the new digital platforms turning towards capturing and utilizing interactive components, many still reside in the more passive forms of the visual storytelling process. Those who have chosen to adopt the new way of sharing their art have opened up a new realm for audiences to engage with their content and therefore have granted their audiences guided power and control over their experiences.
In 2013 Bob Dylan’s Management collaborated with Interlude Technology to redefine the ‘music video’ and create something truly innovative for Dylan’s’ iconic 1965 song “Like a Rolling Stone”. At the time of its production this video challenged the boundaries of the music video world by the utilization of cutting-edge technology to cultivate real television experiences where pop culture spans connections between music and imagery. The big concept being explored in this video is how form can reinterpret content. How the content is presented to us as the audience, and the ability given to us to take a programmed amount of control and use that to direct such content can ultimately allow for the growth of unique experiences and interpretations between the two parties. By using TV as the medium to reinterpret Dylan’s lyrics; TV is now not just a medium but a window to which we look at ourselves and this digital world. Or in this case a window to which we as the audience can direct the meaning behind Dylan’s lyrics.
The experience presented in this video comes from the audience’s ability to flip through channels of what ultimately captures the true essence of American Cable Television. Through various television personalities; cameos from celebrities, a cooking show, The Prince is Right, Pawn Stars, Local News, a tennis match, children’s cartoons, and BBC News, the interpretations of Dylan’s’ lyrics changes with every channel based on the context and the characters presenting the lyrics. This element changes the audience’s passiveness of flipping through channels to an active role where the audience becomes the interpreter. The music video is brought full circle when one of the channels is actual footage of Bob Dylan preforming the song which ultimately brings a new depth by presenting the only ‘real’ channel. New experiences can be cultivated each time you watch, just like television you can’t watch every channel at the same time, it’s the decisions you make of which channels to watch during different parts of the song that ultimately dictates your interpretations as a viewer. For instance, when watching the children’s channel verses the local news, your mindset of the lyrics is switched from a more serious format where you are taking in the importance of what is being said to a more carefree interpretation where the focus on the lyrics is more playful and the true meaning behind the words is clouded by the of the lightheartedness of the characters and the context presented on screen.
One of the most notable aspects of this video is the cultivation and demonstration of the frequency illusion. Have you ever randomly noticed something or just learned something and all the sudden you feel like it’s everywhere, like everyone and their cousin is talking about it and the subject feels to be surrounding you? This phenomenon is expressed in this video where you feel like Dylan’s song has dominated your cultural consciousness as you begin to hear it on every channel. In the real world this feeling is brought on by your subconscious use of selective attention. However, in this video it’s a choice of artistic expression to create the symptoms of thus illusion as a further element of interaction with its viewers. The incorporation of this element sparks further investigation on what is trying to be conveyed about the digital age as a whole. Just as contemporary algorithms of the internet use places we visit online to feed us ads through different digital platforms, this video transmits the same message through the use of different broadcasters, regardless of our social context or where we are in the world.
Technology will continue to evolve and become increasingly interactive with its viewers by innovating forms, themes and techniques of the past and restructuring them to challenge the future. Like Bob Dylan’s video that uses contemporary digital technologies to recreate our fascination with a classic through the lens of a vintage tv set, we will continue to find the new within the old to ultimately progress and adopt new ways and formats allowing for further exchanges between technology and human interaction. Where artists are able to expand their artistic expressions to connect with their audiences and bring to them a more personalized experience while also forging deeper thoughts that relates to the operation of today’s digital world.
