Integration is the greatest total advantage of multimedia. Instead of relying on a host of other artist who specialize in a specific field, an artist now has the ability to combine sound, motion, light, and interactivity into a piece by his/her self. Now the finished work can more closely represent the artists vision without passing through multiple hands and remain unfiltered. Multimedia gives an artist complete control over the senses of the viewer. In the past, if a Total Artwork experience was to be given, the artist had to assemble a musician, a visual artist, and perhaps a performance artist to deliver a total sensory experience to the viewer. This method created a new and different artwork than what was originally intended. Now, a sole person can produce work that mirrors his or her own design with much more accuracy. Before multimedia, the original idea had no choice but to be filtered through others, and at every sensory stop altered. This kind of collaboration can be a great experience if that is what was intended, but if the artist wanted to stay true to an original design of appealing to all of a viewers senses, this was the only option. This is why multimedia is so important; it can be manipulated by a single artist or by a group of artists. This gives many more options to the artist he/she can be in as much or as little control as desired. Now a sole person can produce a work that mirrors his or her own design with much more accuracy.
Not only does the advent of multimedia allow the artists original vision to remain intact, it also allows the integration of all the senses simultaneously while giving the viewer the option to participate. In the early 1900’s, Futurist Cinema began the integration of multiple disciplines such as painting, photography, and moving imagery. Cinema would allow traditional static paintings the ability to move and become more dynamic. Futurist Cinema artists believed that cinema was the advancement of art, and so multimedia and its degree of interactivity could be considered the advancement of Futurist Cinema. Not only are the senses activated with moving imagery and sound, but the viewer can now participate in the experience by selecting certain points of the artwork to trigger or stall. Happenings, in the 60’s, was the parent of viewer participation, a performance and/or visual artist could include the audience into the work at the artist discretion. This spontaneity is similar to a interactive work now, in which the designer can give the viewer choices to make that would affect the rest of the artistic experience.
