Virtual Practices of Creating Performing Images in Pop Music Art

The purpose of the article is to investigate the specificities of the representation of pop singers’ performing images of in virtual practices of musical art. The research methodology is based on an interdisciplinary approach, given the tangibility of the topic to the problems of musicology, performative studios and digital technologies. The methodology includes musicological analysis, comparative method, discursive and content analysis. The scientific novelty of the research results lies in the extension of the typology of components of the performing image in pop art and the first study of virtual practices of modelling performing images of digital avatars of real artists, AI-generated performers and virtual idols, which was carried out for the first time. Conclusions. The study of the peculiarities of the representation of pop singers’ performance images in virtual practices of musical art outlines the need to expand the typology of components of the performance image, including musical, technical, interpretive, visual, aesthetic, psychological and socio-cultural components. Given the high dynamics of transformations in the digital environment and creative industries, we can observe the emergence of new representational strategies of pop art in the virtual environment, which correlates with the modelling of new types of performing images – digital avatars of real artists, AI-generated performers and virtual idols. The analysis of the components of such performing images on the empirical examples of the works of Hatsune Miku, FN Meka and the band ABBA reveals significant differences in the formation of virtual performing images. Compared to their historical predecessors (television and stage), the mechanisms of building virtual images of AI-generated performers and virtual idols exclude the presence of a psychological aspect, outline modifications of the communication component and significant transformations in the representation of musical, technical, interpretive, visual, aesthetic and socio-cultural components.