Analyze, Create, Evaluate

Judgement is necessary; the "self" is not.

The creative act demands perspective, not ideology.

Unreasoning

Art, as a representation of reality, is not confined to material existence.

It is nonetheless absurd to claim a purely imaginative narrative is factual and somehow valid, as has become a constant cultural assertion throughout diverse fields.  Nor, unfortunately, can such claims be taken lightly. They have become not only foolish, but dangerous, and must be confuted, whether by art or by other responsible means, in the strongest possible terms.

Chaining Air

Certainly, cultural settings may be manipulated and expression held in check.

This is always done in the attempt to confine expression to narrow, "acceptable" limits.

And it always fails.

Lower

The expectation that somehow "reality" will bend to one's will is ever absurd.

It is fascinating how those who find certain events, outcomes, and effects incomprehensibly strange and complex are unable to take the simple step of viewing these from a clear perspective.  To such minds, this implies "philosophy", and can thus be neither understood nor trusted.

Such blind ignorance is fatal to culture, the arts, and social constructs.  It is often fatal, period.

Place

False appearances lead to falsified actions.

Neither the individual nor culture at large can withstand the errors of falsity.  Sound judgement is needed to distinguish between reality and unreality. Belief supported by sensory evidence and the critical faculties must resolutely stand against merely clever illusions and fraudulent semantics.

Culture, along with the individual, can not long afford tolerance of any poisonous combination of ignorance and belligerence, whether it finds expression in the arts or in anything else that elevates and values freedom.

Choices and Variations

Observe the sources of quietude and those of chaos.

Consider the effects of culture upon consciousness. Act accordingly.

Watch, Listen, Wait

Reflection. Vision. Expression. These are critical elements of art and life.

The world does not need noise. There is more than enough.

Think quietly, act rightly, and decisively.

Trend

A single generation may lose a world to ignorance.  No art can remedy such a loss.

One who cannot comprehend freedom will neither experience it nor deserve its virtues.

One, Another

The artist thinks on personal, individual terms.

Otherwise there is no artist, but merely a facade for the expression of derivative perspectives.

Dynamism

Cultures are controlled and manipulated, but this need not be the case.

Under normal conditions, culture and the arts function interactively. When developments in one or the other are brought to a standstill, both succumb to a state of stasis that is ideal for the impress of any form of totalitarian, centralized, collective control.

The critical element that must be reigned in is information, but this cannot be done through direct, visible, means, or contention will ensue. Yet it is a simple matter to narrow the focus of the public discourse to a few vexing issues, and to make those appear to be the central facts of social reality, removing the creative impetus from the cultural setting-- to a great extent, if not altogether.

The result is darkness, and its perpetual increase, unless the visionary rise up against the benighted.

Changing Tide

Action leads to more action; control, to more control.

The necessity of both is obvious, and more necessary than these is balance.

Upend

Predictability reflects both expectations and the opposite of those expectations.

The act of genius, in its most elevated sense of reaching beyond the known, reflects neither.

Foreseen

No narrative replaces experience; it is without substance.

No ideology is a substitute for knowledge and wisdom; it always forms an untenable perspective.

Critical Mass

Knowledgeable, critical thought is one thing; ignorance is another.

Simply put, it is no longer possible to accept or tolerate inferior perspectives on art and culture. All these stultify vision and promote complacency, regardless of their origins.

The artist is urged to action; the supercilious and benighted, to silence.

Rising Tide

Give attention to the social, cultural, academic, and political norms of the present day.

It is the totalitarian culture and society that suppresses expression, artistic and otherwise.

The Sudden and Unexpected

While cultural progress typically moves slowly, it does, from time to time, evolve rapidly.

Regardless of the cultural catalyst, change is always subject to forces of history as well as those unforeseen events that come about in the present.  At such times, one may look to the arts for insights, and, not surprisingly, lies and absurdities.

Thus the essential nature of the aesthetic sense is empowered by the force of reason.

Dynamic Projection

Rather than be deceived by appearances, the critical mind observes with patience.

Some artists apply technique and medium to conceal, others, to reveal what can neither be seen nor heard directly, but nonetheless grasped intuitively.

Distant Note

In Lovecraft's story, strange music emanates from a room on Rue d’Auseil.

My perspective is that what is generally accepted to be "music" exists within the dull confinement of expectations and conventions that may be consciously put aside. Beyond these, consciousness begins to perceive sonic tones, patterns, and their combinations in novel, interesting, ways, these being more or less suggestive of the uncanny sounds the author describes. Yet the total effect I am most interested in is one of elevated perception in an aesthetic sense, something different, but not alien to, the sensibilities of Lovecraft and other artists of that particular modern period.

Balanced Focus

There are always clashes of perspective.

These take various forms, among them complaint, argument, insult, injury, and so forth. The arts are no exception, and these forces are continually at play.

Essentially, the sole alternative is silence, so the artist acts, takes the responsibility, and accepts the results.

Clear

If nothing else, eliminate cultural detritus.

Media obsessions, "conversations" and "issues" comprise a single burden; it is an unnecessary one.

Vision, Gesture

The virtue of art resides in the finished aesthetic creation.

This does not mean intent and action are to be discounted, but understood as critical elements that are subsumed in the final work and its total effect.

Phantom Loss

Discard freedom of expression and it will be permanently lost.

Were I to speak only from experience as an educator, I would aver that the world is awash in a sea of ignorance and stupidity.  It is never so simple, and foolish to take so narrow a view.  Yet it is of some moment to acknowledge the disintegration of cultures over the course of the historical record that have failed to transmit ideas and ideals to upcoming generations.  Those who never experience freedom, regardless of what manner or form it takes, whether in individual, artistic, or political terms, will be incapable of comprehending its loss, a loss immeasurable.

Leap

See the world.

Move beyond the limits of irresponsibility.  Be the one to discover what has not been seen, heard, and expressed.  This is self-reliance, existential clarity, and the virtue of contemplative being.

Separation and Unity

Creative thought necessitates many perspectives.

Clarity of perspective necessitates critical and creative responses.  Each implies both, and for the artist each will be revealed and expressed.

Reversals

Hubris engages the pursuit of nemesis.

Thus are fortunes changed in the Greek tragedies, and the mighty decline and fall.

These are cautionary tales of cultural moment and permanence.  In the mind's eye, Icarus against the sun, Orpheus turning at the threshold of the underworld, crying out "O Eurydice, look upon the world I have won you back to!"

The artist must live in reality, regardless of the ways in which worlds and visions might be expressed and represented through artistic works.  To do otherwise invites disaster, arrayed in myriad forms.

Look, and Regard

Art, of every variety, establishes links, connections between realities and perspectives.

Nonetheless, it is dangerous to assume the mere appearance of a thing is, in fact, the reality.  What is necessary, for art, and its adherents, to thrive is the ability to discriminate between the two. This is depth of vision, and an understanding of a central element of reason, one essential to an engaged and perceptive life.

By no means does such critical understanding exist as natural insight.  It demands thought, and the discipline required to take a full measure of objective facts.  It is also incompatible with acting in a state of unselfconscious ignorance or in the easy yolk of subjection to ideological cant. Yet these are common points of view reflecting, predictably, common hubris, particularly among the highly, yet poorly, educated.  Little can be done for those who fear questioning the foundations of their own self-regard, even through the ministrations of the arts-- fine, popular, or otherwise.

Beyond the Present

Necessity demands.

There can be no pretense to the artist's position. One's only recourse in every setting is the truth.

Same / Never the Same

Art depends on risk, or it will not be.

Without risk, nothing changes. The only complete failure is the failure to act, even in the face of the impossible.

Time Past. Time Present. Time Future.

Time present and time past. Are both perhaps present in time future. And time future contained in time past. If all time is eternally present.

from BURNT NORTON (No. 1 of 'Four Quartets') by T.S. Eliot

Published on Feb 15, 2016

Filmed among modern ruins in Caroline du Nord.
Arranged and Performed by Moderan
Vocal by Dr. S.G. "Trashpile" Hunter, Antiquary.

Words & Music © by David Bowie
from "The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars" (1972)

Licensing: Harry Fox Agency

TINTORETTO MUSIC
CHRYSALIS MUSIC GROUP INC DIGITAL ONLY
EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING LTD.

On Watch

Instinct for expression demands the force of reason, else it is abandoned.

Vision translates into conception, and concept is realized in act and work.

Comprehension, Response

Artistic expression that provokes intense emotion yields little more than singular effect.

Evocation of contemplative response through artistic expression perpetuates elevation of emotion, the intellectual facilities, and consciousness itself, producing expansion of perception over time.

Dominion

Fantasy worlds are nothing if not popular, and thus they are perpetually recreated.

In contrast, the exploration of life and being can never be as complete as any imagined alternative, yet every vision, every work, will be unique in perspective, execution, content, and theme.

Observations Untold

Cultural loss is, to some degree, inevitable.

Visible artifacts remain, and with them, the suggestion of sensory impressions, every one vague and mysterious, beyond reach for millennia.

No finely-considered speculations will recreate "music" of uncertain realities long extinct, but, with the contemplative spirit of the aesthetic sense, it is possible to hear, and express, reflections upon the tonal environments and atmospheres in which these artifacts were conceived.

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.

Image Culture

The self-reliant and self-sufficient artist is not infinitely malleable.

To such a one as this, oppression and celebrity are equally worthless in the light of the creative act.

These are appearances, nothing more, and neither death nor worldly success diminishes the reality of expression.

The Anvil into Tartarus

Culture will not be chained; it moves at the pace of those who are free to create.

Within living memory, the music industry plunged into an abyss of failure from which it will never recover as a direct result of attempts to define and manipulate culture to the advantage of insular controlling interests.  The result was what remains, an assembly line producing predictability and relentless tedium.

This fact allows for no sympathy whatsoever, other than for generations of artists and listeners who will have very little experience with more than the most shallow and vapid reflections of authentic musical expression.

The truth is simple: one does not control culture, but defends it and allows it to progress according to its own lights.  Yet, even now, this same scenario is unfolding in practically every aspect of culture, including the worlds of art, politics, academics, sports, and, of course, communications media.

Expansion or Collapse

The critical mind regards closely what it perceives imaginatively.

This is the determination of what is real, and what only appears to be so. Only one will yield to the effort necessary to create authentic expression, while the other will conjure the spurious.

Paradox and Elevation

One surrenders to art, and one creates.

One creates, and one is liberated in all things.

Dare

Consider the perspective of the audience.

To do less is neglect.  To do more is inconsequential. The audience will be perceptive, or not.

Degrees of Light

Every artistic effort has value, whether great or small.

Every artistic work will have greater or lesser meaning according to the will of the artist.

Direct Approach

Skeptical of appearances, the artist chooses means and method of expression.

One may reasonably expect an objective perception to be taken as meaningful, in that it depicts to the greatest degree possible an understanding of the real world, yet this is rarely the case.

In communications media a tedious subjectivity is the predominate attitude, and its attendant facile projections of everything from a nihilist perspective to a spurious intellectual tone are absorbed and parroted throughout the social fabric.  Better to expect nothing, and act with autonomy, if that is what honesty demands.

Apatheia

Autonomy belongs to those who will accept it.

The artist, composer, writer, athlete or scholar is no more or less free than any other person, and is equally subject to the forces of history and the demands of the present day.  Nonetheless, it is never the case that one must allow oneself to be coerced or forced to venture one opinion or another on those things upon which such judgement is to be held in abeyance, that is to say, upon those issues that will never be settled.  What one observes are facts, what one expresses are perceptions that may be objective, subjective, or neutral.  What is of greatest importance is whether or not such an expression is real, or merely an appearance.  This is the essential nature of creative purpose.

Lacking Precedent

Seek art now.  Right now.

A vague undercurrent of uneasiness and anxiety pervades contemporary cultural perspectives.  In fine, it is the fact that the technology for creative expression is everywhere within reach, and yet the resulting creative work that should be expected is nowhere to be found.

Loss of the Contemplative

A shallow view of technology suggests that it allows the user to "defy limits".

Such a view reflects limits that technology has already brought to bear against the imagination.

Tabula Rasa to Total Effect

Sensory impressions, experiences, contemplation, abstract ideas.

Thus thoughts, choice, media, and expression, reflecting the subjective sensibilities of the artist and objective realities as well.  What is ultimately revealed is being in the world.

Fire, Forge, and Force

To re-create is not enough, and futile.

The great themes and visions must be re-formed.  All the arts, philosophies, schools of thought, aesthetic systems and methodologies shrink in universal estimation as they become effortlessly accessible, and are realized in only the most petty, shallow ways. Comprehension fails entirely, lacking all substance.

Mention the concerto, the tone poem, or "The Birth of the Cool" and be prepared to meet blank stares or pathetic dissembling. Existentialism, Taoism, Cubism, and Impressionism alike are met with all the depth of interest and enthusiasm of a dray horse.  These are, in fact, not effortless at all, and their reality will not be apprehended to any degree without arduous effort.  There is no alternative, yet shamming is as ubiquitous as it is intolerable, as if those who claim to have read Eliot or Burroughs, listened deeply to "Rhapsody in Blue", or experienced a moment of Zen have actually done so.  If it were so, indeed, many aspects of culture would be entirely different than they clearly are.

Such things as these must be brought back to life, by the force of will and creative effort necessary to illuminate them as newly, essentially desirable, and as central to human progress, as digitized information is to contemporary technology.  And this is by no means a likely event.

Within the Unexpected

Every perception awakens with sudden change.

Here, in conditions outside the ordinary, art and reality converge.

Asymmetric Effect

Predictability is toxic.

It is the death of art, and ultimately of culture. It is written on the stake driven through the heart of American rock music; it is the nemesis yet of American jazz, and of the global avant-garde, not only in music, but in every field of cultural endeavor.  Even so, innovation is quietly suppressed, or damned with faint praise, in the erroneous, elitist belief that the listener lacks the intellectual and emotional wherewithal that is necessary for forward-thinking, or, worse, that the listener is little more than a mindless consumer whose dull appetites must be directed toward the "just" ends of a kind of (commercially acceptable) political correctness.

As composer and artist, I respect the listener, and am not subject to such grotesque errors.  And thus it is that I have spent four decades pursuing and perfecting compositions and recordings that cannot be forced into a mold or followed to inevitable conclusions, even with- no, especially with- repeated listening.  I will not compromise.  I do not expect less of my listeners.

Concealed Energies

Let there be no confusion: it is the artist who defines art.

Those who say otherwise have other agendas; those who allow their art to be defined by others may be many things, but they are not artists.  The likes of these are ubiquitous, found everywhere from print media to "web presences", all embraced by "endowment" managers, cultural nabobs, academic sycophants and political bureaucracies.

I, like other artists, define my terms.  All the rest exist in a miasma of glorified fraud and waste.

This, too, is what it means to listen, and hear: to discriminate between the real and the falsified.

The Sounds You Hear

I don't "make music" in the traditional sense, though I have done so previously, for decades, in fact.

Generally speaking, music involves forms, arrangements, harmonies, melodies, genres, and a host of sophisticated and technical concepts that define it as an art form.  Boston's Berklee College of Music comes to mind as a contemporary institution focused on these matters.

I am only interested in sounds as they are encountered in the course of events, and with developing their combinations in the way of an artist applying paint to canvasses that are continually in motion with tones and imagery.

To the Purpose

The art of listening clarifies perception.

I compose accordingly, engaged in producing this total effect. This is a means to listen, and hear.