Electronic music is a particularly adaptable medium and fluently blends with other art forms; in the previous chapter, we discussed one such hybrid, sound art. In this chapter, we will explore other areas of intersection, from opera to video games, including the intensive new developments in computer music brought about through the Internet. The section headings evoke the varied artistic aspects and paradigms.

In 1849, Richard Wagner used the term “Gesamtkunstwerk” in two essays to describe a “total artwork,” or the combination of many art forms into one. In the 1990s, the term “multimedia” became popularized as any combination of text, graphic art, sound, animation, and video. Technology companies used the term multimedia extensively, and some art historians prefer to use the term “intermedia” to suggest a connection between art forms. Dick Higgins is often credited with the invention of the term “intermedia” in the 1960s, though he himself traced his inspiration back to Samuel Taylor Coleridge. Intermedia does not have to include a computational component, but many contemporary artists work with digital tools which make it especially easy to combine art forms. Not all works can be considered Gesamtkunstwerk, or even intermedia; rather, they “exist between, among, and above the genres, rigid categories, and tools solidified by the institutions of culture.”