The future is finally here, if you believe everything you see on the internet.
Face recognition software can scan your photos and pick out individual features. You can build your own Back to the Future-style hoverboard for around $500. Space tourism is finally a reality. Jetpacks and flying cars are pricey (available for six figures), but they exist.
Closer to home, our tourists go to Ft. Sumter, not the firmament. The only face recognition we have is when we spot a buddy as we pass them on King Street. And we’re still just a ways from getting a regular skatepark built downtown, let alone a hover-friendly one. But we still have dreams and ambitions.
This fall we asked some local creative types for their visions of the future. What did they think life would be like in the new decade, or 1,000 years from now?
Most of the answers were soberly focused on each interviewee’s field of expertise. Redux Executive Director Karen Ann Myers described herself as “naively optimistic” about the years ahead. “The definition of how art prices are determined is going to change,” she told me. “People’s perceptions of art and its value will be different.” More fancifully, she wanted to see everyone in a buoyant mood. “I imagine the Earth being a giant trampoline with everybody bouncing everywhere. There would be no cars, traveling would become difficult, but just walking around would be really fun.”
Charleston Center for Photography Owner/Director Stacy Pearsall was more down-to-earth. “The bleeding heart in me wants to see no poverty,” she sighed. “If that answer’s too Miss America for you, I’d also like to see education in art. It would be great to see people being encouraged to be creative. That would be right up there with flying cars.”
Outspoken classical musician Robbi Kenney’s dream is to start a for-profit orchestra in the future. “I could stick around waiting for the right nonprofit structure to develop,” she says, “but I want to do something in my lifetime.” Kenney also wants to see the arts integrated into the for-profit world. She says this would revitalize local organizations, leaving performers free to create. “Artists need to try harder to connect with the audience. Anything that drives the human spirit will attract people.”
So what does the future hold for us? Recently, we’ve seen a consolidation of production and marketing among art groups. Theatre Charleston is an organization set up by several theater groups to jointly promote their shows. Over its four-year existence, its roster has grown from five to nine groups. Charleston Premier Arts is a similar initiative touting the Christmas shows of Charleston Stage, Charleston Ballet Theatre, and the Charleston Symphony Orchestra. The Charleston Arts Coalition is helping artists and businesses to connect with seminars and market research.
Instead of chewing off each others’ hind legs for a diminishing piece of sales, artists have joined forces. There seem to be more collaborative shows than ever; most recently Robert Lange and Nathan Durfee at Robert Lange Studios and Laura Gaffke and Tina Hirsig at Plum Elements have combined their talents to create fresh work. There’s no reason why a healthier economy should change that, although some unions will stand the test of time while others drift by the wayside.
But another, less healthy trend is a steady departure of young talent from Charleston, especially in the acting community. In the past year I’ve seen some of the city’s best actors and comedians move to New York, LA, or Chicago because they weren’t getting the support they needed here — or were too busy scrambling to pay their bills to fully utilize their artistic gifts. They and their peers in various disciplines are the future of local arts, and without nurturing such talent, we’ll be stuck in the dark ages for a long time to come.
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