Application

Everything must be connected, etc., etc., ad nauseum.

Observe the ever-strident discourse that insists humanity be dependent upon technologies, as if there is no imagination, creativity, or consciousness otherwise.

Late and Soon II

Culture evolves with the speed of communications,

Accordingly, developments of ideas and techniques that once took centuries now run their courses in years or decades. Yet when communication is instantaneous, such ideas can be dismissed as having no value within minutes, and all the more so when understanding is predicated upon mere superficial engagement and shallow, or failed, thought processes.

These facts must not escape observation, and consideration must be given equally to an additional truth: regardless of how quickly information moves, ideas, techniques, and creative efforts may still undergo developments that take years, decades, and centuries.

Muse

Art is more than a product.  It is more than decorative surfaces and stylish sounds.

Art is a philosophy: it is a way of being and communicating that transcends the frayed threads of common banality, emotional excess, and vanity.

Take No for an Answer

There is, in fact, a great disturbance throughout the aesthetic fabric of culture.

See everywhere reflexive acceptance of mediocrity as the norm, and "controversy" as the claim of art. These are no more than contradictory passions, with contradiction expressed as a grasping, illogical lack of self-knowledge. There is nothing to be gained by bland, benighted subjectivity.

Art is a force of experience, and if it cannot be found within the culture, it must be brought forth.

Walls Within Walls

Defy the norms.

The creator influences, the culture establishes.  The only outcome of a sealed system is decay.

Repute and Noise

It is the work that moves the artist.

The ego and the persona, these are indifferent things.

Sense, Cognition, Being

Perception informs consciousness, and perspective is developed through sensory information.

The self-evident simplicity of understanding and acting in the world is taken for granted, as is the fact that music is a form of communication and expression.

But there is far more, beginning with the idea that sounds may be composed in forms of a completely different nature than the music that commonly influences viewpoint and attitude, and conceivably such forms may alter consciousness over time in profound ways.

Past Party City

Observe that rhythmic sounds are typically of short duration.

These are expected in music, with longer compositions lasting a number of minutes, briefly engaging the listener's attention.  Consider, then, the prolonged rhythms of sound as they evolve over time, between morning and night, and over years.  These, too, can be made manifest in compositions and recordings, but they are rhythms as a manifestation of sounds other than those given to be musical.

Waves, Currents, Tides

Fill the environment with sounds as if they were works and objects of art.

None of the common attributes of music are necessary, only sounds filling a spectrum of aesthetic beauty, and variations in density thereof.

Unexpect

A voice in the crowd says, "Time claims everything."

The voice inside my head says, "...except the timeless", and, clearly, is not impressed.

New Ground

Accept the status quo and accept absurdity.

The artist explores, discovers, and reveals, or there is no art.

Appearances and Evolving Attitudes

Cultural conditions limit, as well as enhance, creative consciousness and conduct.

Where there is no receptivity for artistic endeavor, the culture stagnates; if conditions change, the palette of the artist increases, with unpredictable, yet significant, outcomes.

Perceptual Consciousness, Elevation of Being

Observe music, in all its forms, in myriad situations; some are common, some exceedingly rare.

As a composer, I am interested in creating works that fix the listener's mind in contemplative states.

Intricacies of Artistic Conflict

Put simply, every work of art, regardless of its form, is an expression with purpose.

There must be communication, representation of the experience of reality, the sound or color or motion of individual experience.  All else is presentation and narrative.

The idea that one artist "competes" with another for the same audience is ludicrous. The artist of merit is driven by the singularity of personal expression, or the so-called "art" is a ruse with no more motive or reason than a vaudeville act whose time is past.

Finding

To understand the moment transcends its limits.

To presume a work of art cannot be surpassed is to fail to grasp the nature of art.

Sphere of Mind and Art of Sound

Consider composition that imposes nothing on the atmosphere it creates.

It is absurd to assume the composer has no ego, yet it is not outside the realm of possibility that the sense of self-importance may be restrained, controlled, and directed toward total aesthetic effect.

Supersensory Impressions

Open the inner ear beyond the common and easily recognized sounds of the day.

As a consequence, expect to hear the extraordinary, what some might call the uncanny, even the paranormal.  These are sounds outside the spectrum of mundane experience.

Movement, Motive

Gain wider consciousness of abstract perspectives in sound.

Listen and hear, through instrumentation into effect, beyond structure into evolving forms, and outside the common and given expectations regarding music, including the role of the artist.

In doing so, begin to sense the aural parallels of distant, unknown territories.

Will in Being

Music, arts, culture, et cetera.  These suggest ruminations that lend themselves to creative action.

But what becomes apparent in the experience of creative action is the realization that the later years of the twentieth century brought historical forces to bear upon the artists of the time that, more often than not, blunted their perceptual sensibilities and stultified their humanity.  Yet one cannot speculate as to the extent to which numerous works suffered for this intensity of focus on the erratic, the violent, and the crude in the various cultural settings wherein art, music, literature, and poetry found expression.

These works speak for themselves; many achieve and sustain authentic greatness, while most are forgotten, or consigned to a form of mainstream obscurity, known only by name or notoriety.

What is clear is the necessity for an assertion of reason and critical acumen, if for no other purpose than as a contrast to the unsatisfying, tiresome, desperate, and despairing nature of these previous historical works.

About Now

One appearance may be judged to be reality as it is, and another, illusion and deception.

Simple questions may obscure complex, insidious subtexts; complicated processes may result in clarity of expression. There are those who say popular music is inconsequential, lyrics unimportant, yet these reinforce a wide spectrum of cultural attitudes that are everywhere visible.

Here again is a scenario reflecting stagnation in cultural consciousness; while imaginative technologies provide for entirely new dimensions of expression through sound, the critical, discriminating listener is offered nothing beyond technically proficient rhythm, percussion, melody and harmony, ad infinitum.