Cras melior est.
From the quote rotator:
I said to myself: I cannot possibly believe that, and as I was saying it I noticed I had already believed it a second time. —GCL, G.9
The assignment is to write a short disquisition on something you find you cannot possibly believe, yet do. (Remember to tag your post with the assignment tag!)
The American Composers Forum has been sending out an email to this guy’s blog, in which he has challenged himself to write a new piece every day for the month of February. I know, it’s cheating to use the shortest month, right?
I’ve enjoyed the little works so far, and of course it’s fun to hear another composer whine about getting it done.
It almost makes me ready to rev the 24 Hour Challenge back up. Almost.
What do you think: is there a value in self challenges like this? Or is it just a stunt to exercise your chops?
All right, no one has posted anything here for a while, so I have something that may be a conversation starter. Maybe not. Just something I ran across.
Those who follow my blog know that I am learning to play the guitar. As I am learning to play, I am also reading Johnny Cash’s autobiography. He’s my favorite singer, and “Folsom Prison Blues” is the first song I’ve learned to play. In the book there is a paragraph that struck me as particularly interesting:
“I was talking with a friend of mine about this the other day: that country life as I knew it might be a thing of the past and when music people today, performers and fans alike, talk about being “country”…they’re talking more about choices–a way to look, a group to belong to, a kind of music to call their own. Which begs the question: Is there anything behind the symbols of modern “country,” or are the symbols themselves the whole story? …Back in Arkansas, a way of life produced a certain kind of music. Does a certain kind of music now produce a way of life?”
Something about that passage really resonated with me, because I think you could replace the word “country” with any number of art forms: screenwriting, musical theatre, painting. Or even just art in general. It seems to me that a lot of modern art, especially commercial art, stems from the artist’s desire to be seen as an artist and not a need to be an artist. “I want to live the lifestyle that goes along with being a rap star, therefore I should break into the rap industry.”
“I would like people to dote on me at gallery openings, therefore I paint.”
Maybe this is nothing new. Perhaps these people have been around since the beginning of art. Certainly seems more prevalent now. Discuss.
Is it art if it isn’t driven by the artistic impulse?
Is this a bad thing? Does using art a simply a means to an end cheapen it for those for whom art is the end itself?
If there is another discussion in there, I’d like to hear that too.
Repeating my first submission, from the comment within Dale’s post:
Brine
Spry
Sigh
Fear
Oomph
Sex
Seeping
Clocked
Annoying
Sane
And my second one, which I’ve been holding back to work on a bit:
Who flows,
knows,
phases,
cuts through…
sinks through.
Stays.
Settles.
Soaks through…
…new waves
dies.
Honk
Moo
Squeak
Roar
Quack
Hiss
Bellow
Bleat
Neigh
Chirp
Um
Er
Ah
Wait
Don’t
Sex
Sextet
Oats
None
Damn
I
four
one
can’t
count
and
don’t
amount
two
much
I have two so far, a kind of variation of the ounce dice trice in which I attempt a sentence.
I
die
trying
for
fire
sessions,
living,
late
entheo-
genesis.
When
do
the
sore
love
sex?
Never.
Wait—
fine,
then.
All I could think of when watching this--and I felt like Terence Stamp’s character in Priscilla, Queen of the Desert during the ping pong ball scene--was how grateful I was not to be undergoing entheogenesis at the time.
Discuss. (The name of the song is “Solid Potato Salad.”)
I found this link through one of my favorite blogs, and thought it rather amazing in its own right. After a few minutes, I thought it might make an interesting assignment/challenge for one of the proposed film festivals. The page uses only cupcakes, but I think (with what you will find at the link as inspiration) that we might expand on that a bit. Both sweet and savory, as well as other forms of edibles than cupcakes could be used as the medium. I think “Blockbusters” might make a reasonable source of inspiration. What sayeth the brotherhood?