Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Experiencing Art

Last saturday i went to see Hariprasad Chaurasia at Seattle's Town Hall. The concert was nice, but could be better. I mean, how can i appreciate indian music sitting on a wood bench with 300 people while 4 musicians are playing and i'm listening through microphones and loudspeakers???

The whole way we are experiencing art today is bugging me.

On museums and art galleries its the same sickness, or worse, it must the prepared for so many people, that the whole experience is fucked up.

Last year i was in Madrid, went to Reina Sofia to see Dali, Picasso, Braque and company, and, for example, getting to the famous Guernica, what do i see?

madrid07nov_067.jpg

People, confusion, talkings, no sofa, no place to chill...

Seeing Giacometi at Metropolitan NY (last year):

newyork2007oct_020.jpg

I mean, how can you appreciate an artwork that way?

Getting back to music... watching Radiohead at Outside Lands Festival in San Francisco last month, i had a similar feeling sometimes during the show. Seeing them 500 meters (no, i don't want to learn US non-metric system!) away, with crazy sound and many people around. Of course i liked it, beeing with my friends there and all. I had a great time, but as far as 'experiencing the music'? The real cool thing would be seeing them (and Chaurasia, McFerrin, Riley etc) closer without the whole electrical paraphernalia and crowd.

This is what i loved the first times on raves i went in Brazil, going to the chillout area at night in the woods with bonfire and listening a DJ playing a live jazz trio recording. That was a completely different feeling, even not being live.

The ambience is part of the experience!

Even movies [of course, there's no 'live movie' to compare], but is it really so much better going to the movies than watching at home?

Regarding music i'm sure there's no big way to improve the experience, but museums and art galleries?? Please!

1 comment:

  1. strongly agree.

    once i went to renoir´s exhibit in masp and i wrote a whole article about it - about the crowd and how it behaved. they stinctively formed a line, like in a buffet: you had to follow people´s time to see the paintings, or you could lose your "turn" to the next. i was shocked by that. i got out of the line and made my own path through the exhibit, and still people would look at me like i was nuts.

    the mona lisa at louvre: a bunch of people around it, same as guernica. every time i search for the mona lisa, i try to get a place in the "first line" so i would not bother with the rest of the crowd. for the mona lisa yeah, i have to do that! :D

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