What is Great Art?
Click to viewI found this really cool video in a post by the awesome mutineers at Sepia, and just had to share. You can read the full post here.
Mutineer Abhi writes, "Writer Gene Weingarten helped orchestrate a brilliant “stunt” on commuters passing through L’Enfant Plaza last January...He took one of the most gifted violin players in the world, dressed him up as a humble busker in jeans, and asked him to play his 3.5 million dollar violin on the metro platform. Who would recognize brilliance? Who would even stop?"
So, here's one of the most celebrated violinists in the world, playing his multi-million dollar violin on a subway platform. How many people do you think stopped to watch? How many people do you think actually picked up the fact that they were in the presence of a creative genius?
It made me think a lot about writing, and what gets picked up as brilliant writing while something else gets poo-pooed as drivel. Who makes that decision? I mean, one of those thousands of specks that passed by Mr. Genius Violinist could have been a curator in a museum...or even an editor at a major publishing house, no? So, what makes one book a masterpiece and another, not so much? Let's say we have two books written by skilled, experienced writers. Plot, character, theme, pacing...all well executed. What are we left to judge, then? Content, right? Who decides which book is worth more?
I love reading rejection stories of famous writers for precisely this reason. Their genius was right out there, for the whole world to judge, and most of them waited agonizing years to see their words in print. So, what is brilliance? Is it connection? If your words, your music, your visuals, your dance touches people, moves people, but isn't showcased at the Whitney or Lincoln Center, or by a major publisher. is it still genius? How do you know?