What the Future Sounds Like: the J-Pop-Art of Hatsune Miku & Kizuna Ai
Creative Communities, Cyber Celebrities, and Synthespian Stardom in the Entertainment Worlds of VR, XR, and AI
Joining the lineup for this April’s massive Coachella music festival is a 16-year-old pop superstar who’s celebrating 17 years in the business. This year also marks a decade since her stage debut, in 2014 at the tender age of sixteen, when she was the opening act for Lady Gaga’s ArtPop tour... (Hang on, does that even make sense?) …since then, she’s worked with professional music producers as well as countless amateur composers, starred in video games and television series, becoming the darling of a worldwide horde of fans, and received plenty of marriage proposals along the way. Over the years, she’s changed considerably but hasn’t aged one bit …although she’s never lived.
Sounds unreal, I mean the math doesn’t add up, but Hatsune Miku (初音ミク) is real. At least virtually. Featuring on over 70 albums, more than 50 singles, and with numerous multi-media appearances, she’s a bona fide cultural icon in Japan. With her distinctive super-long, bright-blue, twin-tail hairdo and techno-gothic-Lolita style, she reflected and influenced contemporary fashion, becoming a favourite cosplay character on the burgeoning manga and…
