Survival

Commonplace events and objects generate sounds that go unnoticed, their subtlety lost to perception.

Heightened awareness of sounds such as these may have been more common in the distant past, but this faculty is by no means lost in the modern world. 

The exercise of this ability through contemplative listening can be a creative and aesthetic process as well as a connection to instinctive knowledge and the depth of understanding it obtains.

Light and the Absence of Light

Opportunity to think.  Freedom to be more fully aware.  The arts offer these things, and more, or they may be misused or subverted, through ignorance or by intention, to deny them.

Totalitarian propaganda comes to mind first, then mindless frivolity and escapism, humorless ideological passions, and the mediocre satisfactions of vicarious emotional experience, all made the more speciously attractive under the aegis of "art".

Undeniably, these are representations of one thing or another.  Do they speak to the soul, the higher aspirations of the heart and mind, or to simple and direct perceptions of reality? 

One makes choices regarding such matters.  Or one does not, and follows.

Times, Places, Sounds and Forces

There are various goals in these audio works, with specific strategies and tactics to attain them.

Sounds to fill spaces, to complement environments and activities, to enhance thought, study, reading, creativity-- writing and drawing or painting, for example-- and for listening, as works complete in themselves, are among the desired outcomes when experimenting with tones and textures, designing sound structures and patterns, and otherwise fabricating or composing these pieces. 

The listener-- or participant, if you will-- should engage with the works to any extent that is pleasing and useful.  It may be a different way of listening, one most familiar to aficionados of ambient music, but it is, in fact, innate, given the various levels of attention accorded to sounds and music throughout the average day.

These transformative sketches in sound are made in consideration of the idea that music is an application of force, and that such forces should be fitting in regard to circumstances, activities, situations, and sensibilities.

Beyond the Unfamiliar

The reader, tolerant of these observations and perhaps finding certain directives to myself informative on occasion, knows fully what is meant by mainstream music and cultural arts of that nature. 

Certainly many people, like fish in water, take no notice of being immersed in it, and this is no criticism, but a neutral and objective point.  The mainstream is a cultural constant and one is everywhere aware of it, including its manifestations as alternatives to itself.

Live performances and recording sessions in the pop and rock milieu offer much in the way of creativity of the mainstream sort, but aside from the improvisational aspects of the former and the experimental opportunities of the latter there is a necessary element of predictability that is tedious and ultimately stultifying. 

The show must go on, coupled with give the people what they want and that sort of thing, holds interest for those who find it fulfilling, of course.  On the other hand, it is the motivation to create and explore that must take precedence for some, curiosity and the desire to know and learn being the dominate forces of their temperament.

Thus we move away from the cultural expectations.  The distance increases between us and the mainstream and its associated perspectives, on into the future, and as far as our journey will allow. 

Stir of Vibrations

Consider music experienced in the course of the day.

Multiple sources.  Multiple situations.  Alone, in domestic, work-related, and social settings.  Through television and radio, in advertising, by personal selection on digital devices.  For multiple reasons.  In complete form and in fragments.  By choice or not.  Given full attention, barely noticed, interrupted, or ignored.

No one considers it unusual; it is unprecedented in human history. 

Upon reflection, literally at the end of the day, it may be observed to have produced effects at the time, or none at all.  The individual would be the one to determine this, and to recall what those effects, if any, were, and whether or not they were desirable. 

To propose and design forms of a musical nature intended to make atmospheres and activities cohesive is to create a paradigm of auditory art that establishes an aesthetic relationship between sounds, ideas, emotions, environments and actions in ways contrary to the effects of transitory and fragmentary musical events. 

Instantaneous

Communications via resources that render them immediate result in untoward cultural effects.

Answers to difficult questions are expected to be reflexive, and, rather than being fully assessed with respect to facts, the replies are merely expected to conform to popular prejudices, and thus they are accepted or rejected as nothing more. 

Ideas and issues that have provoked debate for centuries, treated in this manner, will not be resolved.  Even concepts that are demonstrably wrong and absurd, clearly based on false premises or fatally flawed and transparently biased "research" continue to be given serious consideration long after they have outlived their relevance.   Ironically, the rapidity of communication that should speed their ultimate demise contributes to their longevity.

In forbearing to mention the many long-endured, obviously wrong and obsolete notions here, the point is to give consideration to the fact that a thoughtful approach to problem-solving, to conceptual creativity, and to the virtue of patience in the evolution of an artistic vision is not an error of judgement, and regardless of cultural norms and expectations, it is an asset to the artist and to the thinking person.  The coercion to think otherwise must be resisted, with intellectual authority and the strength of moral reason.

Dance

In general terms, entertainment is meant to provide diversion or escape, and to garner applause and acclaim.

Art is created to yield effects.