I'd like to think I would have stopped...
What do you think would happen, hypothetically, if one of the world's great violinists were to perform incognito before a traveling rush-hour audience of 1,000-odd people?
It's a question that was asked and then investigated by Washington Post recently. The article's here. Well worth reading, as it's a beautiful piece all on its own. And then there ( Read more... )
It's a question that was asked and then investigated by Washington Post recently. The article's here. Well worth reading, as it's a beautiful piece all on its own. And then there ( Read more... )
The 'painting without a frame' analogy was crucial. The context of JBell's music was too easy to walk past. Note the one true appreciator even stood back a long distance "so as not to intrude". Metro stations are a poor environment to do anything unusual (like enjoy some classical music), especially for bureaucrats on their way to work.
The real meat of the article for me though was the impact on the question of 'who is art for?' Should the public go study some music so they can appreciate great street musicians? Should only the things that have appeal to us matter? Should world famous musicians be revered if only those in the music fraternity notice they are any good? (And then apply your answer to the headless corpse that is the modern art scene).
Also we live in an attention economy: the scarcist resource is our focus. Already too many voices clamour for even a second of our hearing, and only those with the Blink reflex to know the value of this voice subconsciously would notice it from among the crowd.
Mostly: Joshua Bell has some serious balls doing this. Putting himself outside the frame to see if he really does matter.
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