Week 13 3/29/2020

Subjectivity is not vision.

The creative work is recognized as a finished act.  

The Lake, The Sky, Disappear

When there is only darkness, or noise, perception declines.

But endless argument is pointless as well, and there are always those who will call day, night, and night, day.  So forward, from there, to evil ends, or beyond these to unknown tomorrow.

Nova Sound

The indiscriminate ear reflects the intellectual nature as well.

A simple bias toward things "random" is a key indicator of the mental laxity that will not put forth the effort to determine cause and effect or its impact on ideas and events.  Such minds cannot be troubled with "meaning", and are easily set in perpetual, escalating conflict with all who have the wherewithal necessary to acknowledge simple, objective perspectives.

Thus was established the environment of din and clamor that has plagued the past half-century and eviscerated its cultural arts.

Posed Little Time

Ideas are shaped and colored to purposes.

Some purposes are intentionally clear; others are crafted to be intentionally obscure.  What is necessary is to be cognizant of the ideas, rather than of their appearances only.

View, World

Work of artistic merit is of paramount importance.

Nonetheless, the perspective of the artist is revealing.  My own is undeniably United States, Southern, Native American, of Wales, Germany, Great Britain, Appalachian poverty, Protestant Gothic, Stoic Realism, and Eastern European obscurity.  I am one who hears what others see.

Repute and Noise

It is the work that moves the artist.

The ego and the persona, these are indifferent things.

Stoa

The artist, like the Stoic of old, manipulates perspective.

It should not be beyond comprehension that reality is not a function of the ego, nor that perceptions themselves exist to inform consciousness for more elevated purposes than self-absorbed expression.

These are points of essential knowledge, in firm opposition to inimical delusion. In terms of the arts, they lend themselves to the formulation of viewpoints established to highlight the differences between mere appearances and the real.  I say formulation in acknowledgement of the challenge that sensory impressions and their interpretations can and do present, objectivity being at times in short supply.

The composer experiences life, and is interested in sound as form and media in representing events, ideas, emotional connectivity, and frameworks for the apprehension of the world. This is one for whom the effects of music are not enough.  There must be insights.  There must be meanings.

Self, Scene, Sound

Environments shape human action and interaction.

We respond to settings and the people we find in them in a variety of ways, with diverse behaviors that are reflections of personal character.  It may or may not be within our control to be in certain places or circumstances, but our choices within them are indicators of whether or not we conform our wills to the reality of those scenarios.  As Epictetus puts it, it is within our power to refrain or sustain.

Clearly, then, it is apparent that certain atmospheres are themselves possessed of degrees of character, as impressed upon them by humanity, and that others, though perceived through the filter of human consciousness. reveal a different order of existence.

It is the composer's sense of reality as well as self that inspires and shapes musical works.

If What the Philosophers Say is True

Epictetus and Lao Tsu offer insights in regard to the idea that human will, in conformity to nature, affords the individual clarity of vision and action unburdened by material attachments and self-delusion.  The term nature here means reality in terms of human nature, social and cultural conditions, and an ordered cosmos made so by right reason and virtue, or the good.

Consider, accordingly, a concept of a music in conformity to nature.

Sounds of a moderate or serene type might be said, by some, to represent such a music.  Both Greek slave and Chinese sage would assure the listener, however, that any music, regardless of form, is part and parcel of reality, reflecting either order, chaos, or combinations of both in thought and expression, whether the composer, performer, or listener intended a "conformity to nature" or not.

Instead, conceive a combination of sounds forming a stylized representation of the collage of auditory phenomena encountered throughout diverse environments over the course of one's journey in life.

Creative Will

The exercise of will in artistic creation bears little resemblance to that of assertion of personal control over everyday events.

The expenditure of will in daily life is wasted on things beyond our control, unlike that focused upon artistic endeavors.  The latter evolve according to the artist's intent and efforts; the former will encompass much over which control is impossible, though this is not to say that none of these are within the scope of responsible influence.  Various things like health and reputation may be enhanced to some extent by effective choices and actions, as may gain and loss generally, but limits on art and creativity are few in comparison.

Art responds to individual will and temperament and is formed into a representation of reality.  Reality itself will not be compelled to be other than it is, a fact to be considered when contemplating the idea of life as art.

Art and Consciousness

Aristotle considered art to be a representation of reality.  In broad terms this is clearly so.

Some view art as a vehicle for emotions or ideas; some as a means for expression of universal, idiosyncratic, or transgressive viewpoints.  Some may see the various arts-- painting, photography, film, music, architecture, performance media, and so forth-- for their cultural potential in persuading an audience to act or think in certain ways, or as mediums to be exploited for profit.  All these are legitimate positions recognized by critics and artists themselves.

Art may also be an approach to the phenomena of existence, a way to perceive the appearances of things and create representations of these observations. 

In this sense, art questions and assesses the validity of perceptions, then generates viewpoints of reality, as opposed to expressing those already in the mind of the artist.  By such means the artist and those who engage with the art may enhance their perspectives in ways beyond the narrowly limited and mundane, to gain certain degrees of insight-- and foresight-- as well as aesthetic pleasure.

Observer and Observed

So much forgotten in the next moment's breath.

Hold on to scraps of phrases, mental photographs, moving pictures of the imagination.  What do they say about you, about me?

Half-formed thoughts, held or let go in the passing of green fields, power lines, graveyards, accidents, laughter and radio talk.

What we have and know, and what we deny ourselves, rests with us alone.

Phantoms of the Living

In the world of ghosts, we never understand our true motivations, act only on the impulse of passion and selfish desire, and, ultimately, behave as though we are alone, not knowing we are dead.

We interact with others as though they are who we want them to be, never knowing who they really are, because we cannot know ourselves.  We exist in a netherworld of images and ideas that our failures of perception and understanding create for us.

Such a shift in individual and cultural consciousness, while readily apparent, appears to go unnoticed.  We do not speak of such things.

Invest meaning in words that are not understood.  Create, and haunt, an empty prison. 

Rain in the Grail

No ideology is a replacement for Reason.

Ignorance brings wrack and ruin, and the dead walk the earth.  Can we be fully alive in the darkness of subjective shadows?