Earlier this week, there was a presentation by a choreographer in residence here at Deare Auld State named Peter Sparling. Sparling is part of a new school of dancers who has combined his art with video. Successfully. I've always loved watching ballet on TV (it tends to feel far more natural than, say, a recorded stage production of "Carmen"), but this morphs into an original, engaging art form.
Sparling's been here all year, and I just found out since, by some fluke, he just happened to use Satie's music and early 1900's impressionist French paintings in a couple of his videos. And so my early 1900's class brought him in as an 'authority' on old art. Don't get me wrong, his description of the development of dance through the 20th century earlier this week was probably the most engaging discussion on art I had heard in the Moments of Change program, but why didn't the musicians know about this evolving art form? Probably for the same reason that we don't know about the senior showcased art exhibits or when "The Trial of Judas Iscariot" is going up next month: Different School, Different Thought. Obviously.
So I was angry.
As I am against having yet another class on dead, rotting bohemians that just happened to hit it big in the public sector (aka museum art, which includes music), I'm writing a paper on the similarities between the Incoherent revelution of the early 1900's and the current Downtown New York music scene. Or, at least, a brief glimpse.
The Downtown New York art scene came on the map with the creation of Fluxus. What is Fluxus? I've been reading up on them for a few years now, and I'm still not sure. But that's alright; part of the problem is that their influence has melded into our culture. Well, our artistic culture.
My parents used to harp on Yoko Ono. "Not only did she break up The Beatles, she thought she could create music!" I was never all too sure about The Beatles, and I'm certain my parents still haven't heard of Nam June Paik and his self-destructive violin sonata. My parents never got the point. I'm fairly certain they never will. And that, to me, is frustrating.
There was a movie a few years back that won some major awards. It was about a wife dealing with a husband who was cheating on her. With another man. The movie was horrendously boring and a little too "Oh, poor me!" and was nothing more than another drama about families not understanding something about their members, whether it be homosexuality, or converting religions, or joining the football team, or performing in a musical. But my challenge is relating to my family and friends on an artistic level, and I feel like the university doesn't foster that very well.
Well, it's not the university's job, is it? But when you are ridiculed (at best) for being creative or trying to redefine something, and no matter how hard you try to explain your influences and people still can't seem to get on the boat... Stan had Brian Boitano, Jack Black had Dio, I have Yoko, and Paik, and Zorn.
My greatest fear is that college will choke the creativity out of me. I'm not a huge fan of spring break because, while I love my family to death, I feel most comfortable at Penn State when the majority of students are gone. At home, or surrounded by the endless screaming at the TV screen in the dorms, I feel like my productivity is limited. And tons of pending paperwork isn't helping me much. But such is my current mode of existence. I'll put up with the like's and you know's and that's gay's and the 27StrokeB6's because that's that challenges that face me day to day, but I'm certain there is far more to this university than bad attitudes and endless busy work.
On a lighter note, I finally sat down and listened to Terry Riley's "In C" a few nights ago. It actually lives up to the hype. It's funny that after all this time, I'm learning not to trust people. I'm finally learning to trust myself, and it's opening me up a bit more.
Sparling's been here all year, and I just found out since, by some fluke, he just happened to use Satie's music and early 1900's impressionist French paintings in a couple of his videos. And so my early 1900's class brought him in as an 'authority' on old art. Don't get me wrong, his description of the development of dance through the 20th century earlier this week was probably the most engaging discussion on art I had heard in the Moments of Change program, but why didn't the musicians know about this evolving art form? Probably for the same reason that we don't know about the senior showcased art exhibits or when "The Trial of Judas Iscariot" is going up next month: Different School, Different Thought. Obviously.
So I was angry.
As I am against having yet another class on dead, rotting bohemians that just happened to hit it big in the public sector (aka museum art, which includes music), I'm writing a paper on the similarities between the Incoherent revelution of the early 1900's and the current Downtown New York music scene. Or, at least, a brief glimpse.
The Downtown New York art scene came on the map with the creation of Fluxus. What is Fluxus? I've been reading up on them for a few years now, and I'm still not sure. But that's alright; part of the problem is that their influence has melded into our culture. Well, our artistic culture.
My parents used to harp on Yoko Ono. "Not only did she break up The Beatles, she thought she could create music!" I was never all too sure about The Beatles, and I'm certain my parents still haven't heard of Nam June Paik and his self-destructive violin sonata. My parents never got the point. I'm fairly certain they never will. And that, to me, is frustrating.
There was a movie a few years back that won some major awards. It was about a wife dealing with a husband who was cheating on her. With another man. The movie was horrendously boring and a little too "Oh, poor me!" and was nothing more than another drama about families not understanding something about their members, whether it be homosexuality, or converting religions, or joining the football team, or performing in a musical. But my challenge is relating to my family and friends on an artistic level, and I feel like the university doesn't foster that very well.
Well, it's not the university's job, is it? But when you are ridiculed (at best) for being creative or trying to redefine something, and no matter how hard you try to explain your influences and people still can't seem to get on the boat... Stan had Brian Boitano, Jack Black had Dio, I have Yoko, and Paik, and Zorn.
My greatest fear is that college will choke the creativity out of me. I'm not a huge fan of spring break because, while I love my family to death, I feel most comfortable at Penn State when the majority of students are gone. At home, or surrounded by the endless screaming at the TV screen in the dorms, I feel like my productivity is limited. And tons of pending paperwork isn't helping me much. But such is my current mode of existence. I'll put up with the like's and you know's and that's gay's and the 27StrokeB6's because that's that challenges that face me day to day, but I'm certain there is far more to this university than bad attitudes and endless busy work.
On a lighter note, I finally sat down and listened to Terry Riley's "In C" a few nights ago. It actually lives up to the hype. It's funny that after all this time, I'm learning not to trust people. I'm finally learning to trust myself, and it's opening me up a bit more.
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