Simultaneous art is a style of art that uses multiple, simultaneous discordant and confusing sensations and narratives to create art that was an experience, rather than an object. Each spectator's experience is a construct of multiple, simultaneous elements. The "meaning" of the art is indeterminate. Rather than leading the spectators to understanding, they would be led only to the crossroads; the juxtaposition of simultaneous elements would create the possibility of multiple meanings. Early 20th century French poet Guillaume Apollinaire is credited as a pioneer of simultaneous art.

Theater

Apollinaire influenced the work of architect Eduard Autant and his wife Louise Lara, who helped spread the ideas to architects

Auguste Perret Auguste Perret (12 February 1874 – 25 February 1954) was a French architect and a pioneer of the architectural use of reinforced concrete. His major works include the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, the first Art Deco building in Paris; the C ...

and

Robert Mallet-Stevens Robert Mallet-Stevens (March 24, 1886 – February 8, 1945) was an influential French architect and designer. Early life Mallet-Stevens was born in Paris in a house called Maison-Laffitte (designed by François Mansart in the 17th century). H ...

. These architects shared similar ideas about

modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...

influenced by

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

inspired concepts of collective space. Drawing on classical tradition of the theater as a space for vision, and audience as spectator, Autant and Lara re-conceptualized the roles of theater director and architect. The "meaning" of the art is indeterminate; the juxtaposition of simultaneous elements presents multiple possible meanings resolved by the participation of performers and spectators.

Film

Parallel editing is a filmmaking technique that was first used by

D.W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the na ...

in ''A Corner of Wheat'' (1909) to show simultaneous responses to an event. In ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Cla ...

'' (1914) Griffith used a technique called contrast editing to depict a fast-paced sequence where simultaneous scenes converge. Griffith had tried something similar in ''

The Lonely Villa ''The Lonely Villa'' is a 1909 American short silent crime drama film directed by D. W. Griffith. The film stars David Miles, Marion Leonard and Mary Pickford in one of her first film roles. It is based on the 1901 French play ''Au Téléphone ...

'' (1909), but with less success. His film '' Intolerence'' (1916) was even more ambitious; the simultaneous action developed in alternating sequences included the

Fall of Babylon The Fall of Babylon denotes the end of the Neo-Babylonian Empire after it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire in 539 BCE. Nabonidus (Nabû-na'id, 556–539 BCE), son of the Assyrian priestess Adda-Guppi, came to the throne in 556 BCE, afte ...

, the

conflict Conflict may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Conflict'' (1921 film), an American silent film directed by Stuart Paton * ''Conflict'' (1936 film), an American boxing film starring John Wayne * ''Conflict'' (1937 film) ...

between

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

and the

Pharisees The Pharisees (; he, פְּרוּשִׁים, Pərūšīm) were a Jewish social movement and a school of thought in the Levant during the time of Second Temple Judaism. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, Pharisaic beliefs bec ...

, and the

St. Bartholomew's Day massacre The St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (french: Massacre de la Saint-Barthélemy) in 1572 was a targeted group of assassinations and a wave of Catholic mob violence, directed against the Huguenots (French Calvinist Protestants) during the French War ...

Video games

The video games ''

Wind Waker ''The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker'' is a 2002 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. An installment in ''The Legend of Zelda'' series, it was released in Japan in December 2002, in North America in Ma ...

'' (2002) and ''

Skyward Sword is a 2011 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Wii. A high-definition remaster of the game, ''The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD'', was co-developed by Tantalus Media and released for the Nintendo Switch in July ...

'' (2011) have borrowed from film studies and applied simultaneous art techniques to their soundtracks. Technological advances have allowed for the environmental score to exist alongside music played on an in-game

harp The harp is a stringed musical instrument that has a number of individual strings running at an angle to its soundboard; the strings are plucked with the fingers. Harps can be made and played in various ways, standing or sitting, and in orche ...

. Multiple musical elements produced simultaneously can impact gameplay by providing audio cues that are related to in game actions. When the game's audio elements are modular, each playthrough can produce a unique score. The modules can be combined smoothly, or timbre and other techniques can be used to induce a jarring sense of disconnection or dissonance.

References

{{reflist Visual arts Performing arts