Week 52 12/29/19

Reflect forward.

In creative action, move with grace and confidence.  Envision and make real.

It is as simple, and as difficult, as this.

Week 51 12/22/19

Consider the impact and influence of music in space and time.

Expand your thinking. Go beyond the mundane.  Always.

Week 50 12/15/19

Think ahead.  See ahead.

Freedom is a creative act.

Week 49 12/8/19

Cultural oppression yields conflict. 

The creative voice refuses to be silenced.

Week 48 12/1/19

One may say that day is night and night is day, but the absurd turns upon itself.

The real revolution upon the horizon is not against government, but against the oppressive dominant culture that fails our deepest human needs.

Week 47 11/24/19

Recognize authenticity.

This is more than discriminating between the artificial and the natural, and demands a sense of what is true and what is false.

Week 46 11/17/19

The artist conceives and executes. This is common knowledge.

What is not always understood is that if there is not a means to execute the conception, the artist must create such a means.

Week 45 11/10/19

There will always be elements within a culture that seek to manage a decline of that culture.

When these these social and political elements are ascendant, they align to crush individual freedom.  This is a warning against the origins of totalitarianism, and the mechanisms by which it seeks to destroy freedom of thought and expression.

They cannot defeat armies, so first they strangle the Arts.

Week 44 11/3/19

Without question, culture will dictate the direction of art.

Therefore culture, its premises, and its adherents must be questioned, and often defied.

Week 43 10/27/19

Observe the extent to which culture colors perception.

In doing so, consider and adapt creative design and application accordingly.

Week 42 10/20/19

The shock of vision insists upon creative realization.

The era of critical upheaval brings about change and enlightenment. This does not happen on its own or in a vacuum, as it were.  It is subject to many things, among them materialism and cultural stereotypes that must be transcended.  What does this mean?

There is no cliche, only the failure to regard forward thinking.

Progress is a function of intent, driven by dynamic and momentum.  Expand your thinking to grasp application of force.

Week 41 10/13/19

Foresight reveals possibilities.

Of course this is true for every area of life. It is a creative process.  Expand your thinking. 

Consider, contemplate, and act according to the unfolding of reality.

Week 40 10/6/19

Culture establishes boundaries.

One conforms, or one is defiant.

Week 39 9/29/19

There are mysteries of knowledge, and of perception.

Some things are beyond words, and outside the reach of the senses.

Week 38 9/22/19

Creative balance does not imply control.

Whether one accepts or does not accept it, the balance remains unchanged. 

It is a matter of perspective and dynamic understanding. Still waters offer clarity.

Week 37 9/15/19

Knowledge of the past refines knowledge of the present.

No single moment defines everything. All is in creative balance.

Week 36 9/8/19

Trace time in the historical movement of sound.

Think of sound as separate from the idea of "genres" and it becomes an exploration without boundaries and impositions of perspective.

Week 35 9/1/19

Creativity is far more rare than commonly understood.

This is because there is value on the one hand, and price on the other.  What is the cost of freedom in a free culture?  What is that which is priceless worth?

Week 34 8/25/2019

Forces of history and individual experience are in constant flux.

Inevitable change may appear, at first, to be unexpected, yet clarify according to these factors.

In creative work this requires an understanding of  problem-solving and opportunity, without the imposition of untested theory.  Analysis and action are interwoven in progress toward outcomes.

Week 33 8/18/19

Imagination alone does not overcome obstacles, setbacks, disasters, and the like.

The mythology of the epic tale demands the cultural hero contend with forces beyond all expectation or control in search of a great need or desire.  This expression reflects the reality of life.  It is no false "construct" created to obfuscate or manipulate.

Art is problem-solving, an aspect of bringing vision into being.

Week 32 8/11/19

Perceive without bias. 

Experience the world directly, unfettered by "narratives".

Week 31 8/4/19

Culture fails without freedom of perspective.

Obstacles to freedom must be transcended if they are to be overcome.

Week 30 7/28/19

The first step is to set aside subjectivity.

Observation, perception, comprehension, without falsification. These are central to creative perspectives.

Week 29 7/21/19

Stop.

Something is happening right in front of you, but you must chose to become aware of what it is.

What is the first step?

Week 28 7/14/19

Keep to the One.

This expression is associated with the Celestial Way.  It implies honesty, nobility, and a connectedness with the phenomena of existence.  

One has an understanding of these things, or one does not, and one lives accordingly.  

What has this to do with art and music?

Week 27 7/7/19

Creativity is an arc of idea and action.

Beyond control of the medium, the artist must exert influence upon the dynamic and momentum of aesthetic progress.  This is the craft of gesture, a guide and illumination to the creative impulse.

Week 26 6/30/19

Expand awareness.

Expand thinking.

These simple statements are understood by very few.

Week 25 6/23/19

The critical ear discerns and discriminates.

Neither praise nor opprobrium bears weight with the creative act itself, especially in terms of active listening.  Wait- now do you hear that?

Week 24 6/16/19

Perception, and art, can be more than the semblance of reality.

Objectivity is necessary, beginning with efforts toward development of discernment.  One must see, not merely look; one must listen, not simply rely on ordinary hearing.

Week 23 2/9/19

No need for explanation or justification.

One accepts, or one does not.  There is a difference between art and propaganda, and it is profound.

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Week 22 6/2/19

Assume any point of view.

What is essential is to separate the false from the true, and appearance from reality.

Week 21 5/26/19

Creative works reflect degrees of contemplation.

Some are thorough in critical and aesthetic perspective, some shallow.  The former expression reveals, intentionally or not, a sense of tradition, while the latter attempts to conceal ignorance.

Week 20 5/19/19

Art expands thinking.

Abstract views of possibilities imply a critical understanding of things that can happen and, of equal importance, things that will not happen.

Week 19 5/12/19

Observe the ways visual perspectives are recorded and represented.

How are these representations understood in the context of time and space?

Consider a myriad of sounds juxtaposed in the same manner.

Week 18 5/5/19

Observe a singular force from separate points of view.

Consider ways by which recorded sound may express such perspectives. What is Impressionism?  What is Cubism?

Internalized information and understanding is knowledge.   Hollow words are meaningless.

Week 17 4/28/19

Concepts of forward movement and expansion imply different perspectives.

Perceptions of sound and time are not the same for everyone. Some are self-evidently accurate, while others are distorted. What is coincidence?

Week 16 4/14/19

Expand awareness, grasp meaning.

Refine impression, realize being, free understanding and experience.

Week 15 4/7/19

Mythology and folklore speak of music as a magical force.

When music is central to tales of the strange and paranormal, attempts to evoke its nature falter. It is invariably described as ethereal, beautiful, mystical... and altogether unlike anything that would fit a modern definition of "music". It defies remembering, and thus cannot be replicated, leaving only a deep, lasting impression of high strangeness.

Recognizing this distinction, Black Mountain School strives to create sonic atmospheres that evoke the uncanny and otherworldly perspectives of art and imagination.

Week 14 4/7/19

Think beyond beginning and end.

Look past the commonplace narrative and the linear chain of events.  What are signs and signals? What are symbols?

Allow a perspective of experience that is objective as well as personal and subjective.

Week 13 3/31/19

Expanded consciousness and enhanced perception suggest transcendence.

Here envision difficult efforts, labor and risk, to rise above the mundane, the political, the mere material. What is necessary to ascend to understanding?  Where and when do we begin?

Week 12 3/24/19

Art is necessary.  Art is essential.

Against oppression of individual expression, Art Will Never Yield.

Week 11 3/17/19

Direct energy, frequency and vibration toward balance and movement.

These are sounds not limited by linear temporal perception; the desired outcome is expansion. 

Compare, at this far distance, to expressive possibilities of Zaum and its linguistic metaphysics. It is not difficult to do so, and without graceless pretension it is revealing.

Ambimusica.com

Week 10 3/10/19

Where perspectives are shallow, chaos is apparent.

This is failure to perceive common forces in motion, their origins, and the greater design.  Who would encourage this? Why would this be desirable?

Experiments are successful only insofar as they can be replicated.

Ambimusica.com

Week 9 3/3/19

What is the way of sound?

Every element of the surroundings resonates with energy, vibration, and frequency.  This is a function of change, expansion, and consciousness.

Ambimusica.com

Week 8 2/24/19

The ear is capable of apprehending and discernment beyond all expectations.

To continuously develop aural perceptivity increases range and scope of auditory knowledge, and provides insight into situations as well as settings.

The more direct the experience of reality, and the more the individual comprehends and becomes engaged with through effort and intent, the more such things as "social constructs" are seen to be transparently spurious and misleading.

Is this a vision of supernormal, or extramundane awareness? Why should this be so?

Historically, these are survival skills.

Ambimusica.com

Week 7 2/17/19

Know, with will to vision.

Much goes unseen.  Far more goes unheard.  This is to say, perceptual awareness is dimmed by a passive focus on perspectives reinforced by conformist attitudes.  To become knowledgeable beyond this mental and emotional bondage demands conscious intent to expand critical thinking.

Ambimusica.com

Week 6 2/10/19

Sound intersects past and future perspectives.

This is energy informing being and perception to experience the moment, and certainly it is a motivation for the composer, whether for music, sound collage, or something else altogether...

Ambimusica.com