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General Asylum General audio topics that don't fit into specific categories. |
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In Reply to: Here's a 'must read' article... one that makes me somewhat sad... posted by Enchantment1.6s on April 8, 2007 at 15:52:13:
It doesn't surprise me - the result, that is.People commuting to work are not necessarily in the mind-frame to be receptive to beautiful music being launched randomly at them. And while Joshua Bell is certainly among the most revered violinists in our age, the fact that he was disguised as an ordinary busker sent the subliminal but nonetheless clear message: Feel free to ignore me.
Beauty is not something you can forcefully inject or otherwise hurl at someone. We tend to want to prepare to receive beauty, put our minds in a state to be sensitive to it. In other words: the reception of beauty can be very context-sensitive.
So what does this tale actually prove? That the general public, even the white-collar Wash.D.C. professional commuter, is somewhat less of an aesthete than we dared to imagine? Maybe, but I suspect probably not. There are modes of attention that seem mutually exclusive from other modes, and when one has become immersed in the daily ritual of commuting to work - I suspect the mental atmosphere created is not particularly ideal for slowing down to enjoy a live performance of music by a highly regarded violinist.
Frankly, I'm surprised he did as well as he did (in the busking-revenue department).
Project this idea onto our audiophile environment. Would the cacophany of familial activity in the background (kids, pets, phone, doorbell, etc) diminish the experience of listening to a beautiful performance of recorded music? Wouldn't we rather wait to listen to that same piece of music when we could set aside time, after the activity of the world has quieted down, after we've had the opportunity to transition our own minds from "daily activity" to "nightly repose?" Does this transition sensitize us to be more receptive to beauty, as if unshielding or removing armor from our nervous systems?
The Joshua Bell experiment proved to me this very thing: That the reception of beauty is not involuntary. I'm unsure of its value otherwise.
%22In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is.%22 - Yogi Berra
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Follow Ups
- Re: Here's a 'must read' article... one that makes me somewhat sad... - Sommovigo 05:56:09 04/10/07 (2)
- One need not prepare for beauty. - driver8 09:33:04 04/10/07 (0)
- BY GOD! I believe he has it! nt - clarkjohnsen 08:18:56 04/10/07 (0)
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