The total work of art : from Bayreuth to cyberspace / by Matthew Wilson Smith.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. The total work of art in an age of mechanical reproduction -- 2. Total stage : Wagner's Festspielhaus -- 3. Total machine : the Bauhaus theatre -- 4. Total montage : Brecht's reply to Wagner -- 5. Total state : Riefenstahl's Triumph of the will -- 6. Total world : Disney's theme parks -- 7. Total vacuum : Warhol's performances -- 8. Total immersion : cyberspace and the total work of art.

"Richard Wagner, Oskar Schlemmer, Bertolt Brecht, Leni Riefenstahl, Walt Disney, Andy Warhol, Bill Gates: these disparate figures all represent important stages in the development of the total work of art. Impacting fields of theatre, architecture, music, literature and film, the tradition of the total work of art has exerted tremendous influence on modern culture, in a way that has so far been only partially understood." "The tradition of the total work of art has been studied primarily as a branch of the history of opera. This study, however, stresses the connection between the total work of art and developments in mass culture. Comparing Bayreuth and Disneyland, the Crystal Palace and the Bauhaus Totaltheater, Brecht's Epic Theatre and Riefenstahl's Triumph of the Will, Matthew Smith finds that the total work of art has as much to do with mass media as with high art, with commercial spectacle as with music drama." "The Total Work of Art will be of interest to students and scholars across a broad range of disciplines, including theatre and performance studies, history of art, music history, cultural studies, and comparative modernism."--BOOK JACKET.