Saturday, February 18, 2012

Singular Force

That which is driven by ideas exists by virtue of principles, and by its own merits.


Independent thinkers, that is to say, people of individual imagination and autonomous will, are so constituted as to resist being subsumed into the easy comfort of cultural conformity; it is tedious and predictable to one of such a disposition. 

This is the artist for whom commercial success is an indifferent thing, for whom the myriad objects of status are of no consequence.  What matters is intensity of being and fullness of expression, depth of thought, strength of vision and the quest for possibilities and their realization.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Conceptual Improvisations

Impression, aesthetic synthesis, imaginative vision, expression in form. 



Stimulus, brought to a fund of knowledge and experience, is resolved as a vision to be brought into being through sound, dance, painting, drama, poetry, or any media.

Drama in sound, music in architecture, dance in sculpture, poetry in film, any and every combination and connection of idea and intuition, perspective and process, brings to light the creative and critical act of the imagination. 

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Impression and Process

Art captures form and color, shape and line, and implies movement. In a painting, for example, or a photograph, these elements convey such things as feelings, ideas and thematic content. 


Sounds present similar impressions while undergoing diverse processes as they move through time. These temporal developments exert forces on the psyche, and they impact mood, sensory awareness, and state of mind, in varying degrees of intensity.

Splashes of color, scatterings of tones over the course of an hour or evening, or clever juxtapositions of elements are, in themselves, mere atmospheric ornamentation.  The art which illuminates them is revealed in the total aesthetic effect of the finished work on one who experiences it.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Nebulous Clarity

A dreamlike uncertainty of sound.

 
Neither confusing nor chaotic, such are the sounds that fill spaces approached and entered but not yet fully grasped. 

Step through gates or doors and find a world in motion.  As yet unacclimated to the atmosphere, listening to color, brightness, the echos of deep shadows, voices of glass and silver, the ear and the mind devise order, seize mood and symbol, appraise circumstances as agreeable; the journey is illuminated, surrounded by song in universal language.

Travel anywhere the imagination wanders, as lightly as rain.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Correspondences, Aural and Visual

For some, perhaps most, imagination will furnish sound imagery in association with visual stimuli, as it does with words.



And the converse is true also.  Auditory imagery will stimulate perceptual impressions in context with the surrounding environment and in the mind as well.

While musical performance and presentation combine sound and imagery to striking results for an audience, it should not be forgotten that sound alone connects intimately with the listener, whether in a personal or social setting.  Composers who respect listeners' taste, intelligence, and emotional discernment may communicate through sound in ways that are understated in approach, to equally far-reaching effects.

Imaginative listening is the foundation of unique and imaginative sound works, whether these are of a fundamentally generic musical nature or they owe their origins to more asymmetrical perspectives.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Aural Imagery, Sonic Symbols

Art in sound moves with affinity for perception and thought, as well as emotion.


An atmospheric synthesis of sound elements forms a language that depicts, through suggestive combinations and connections of tone and pattern and vibration, sensory effects and imaginative visions.  Places, people, and events may pass before the mind's eye in sympathy with thoughts and impressions arising out of the listening experience as a result. 

Emotion or feeling is by no means eliminated-- this is neither possible nor desirable-- but it is not the sole focus of the sketch or transformation ambient piece.  Enhancement of environments conducive to a contemplative state of mind is foremost, not the creation of vicarious emotional states.

These, then, are elemental sensations, originating in aesthetic expression through sound, and illuminating, perhaps altering in a subtle manner, the consciousness of the listener.

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Art as Sound

Rhythm arouses emotional expression, which in turn is developed with ornamentation.  All else is refinement of sensibility, theory and technique, if this is the whole of the idea of "music".


Anyone who cares in any degree for the reality of art knows and perceives in ways that art requires for its very existence. Each individual and personal perspective holds insights into artistic ideas and concepts that may form a catalyst through which visions of future human expression and culture are revealed.   

The traditional and the popular have their places, but they are not held in positions of value and importance by either the arrogance of specious conventional authorities or the shallow whims and declarations of self-styled arbiters of fashion.

Most particularly in an information culture, one must see and hear the arts through one's own eyes and ears.