On Towards Morning

Pop art and popular culture communicate a broad spectrum of ideas and emotional perspectives.

Still, one must look beyond the merely material, the superficial and concrete:

 Δόξα ἐν ὑψίστοις θεῷ καὶ ἐπὶ γῆς εἰρήνη ἐν ἀνθρώποις εὐδοκίας.

Disconnect

With the realization of loss, one seeks what is missing,

Freedom of experience is grace; freedom of expression is lost upon those without it.

Composer as Medium

Perceive, conceive, express.

Work is revelation, and not to be imposed upon.

Lines of Demarcation

One link to Time Past and Time Future is tradition.

Observation of tradition and its elements, as an analytical means to understanding, is neutral in nature. In the simplest of artistic terms, tradition may be expressed through a variety of media according to the sensibilities of the individual artist.  What is not neutral is the artist's attitude toward tradition.

Typical attitudes are those of respect, realistic acknowledgement, or contempt. These are revealing, in that they indicate whether the artist places greater value upon the work, or upon other things such as ego, social status or ideology. The astute viewer or listener cannot fail to detect such expressions and their impact on the total effect of any work.

Reason Amid Riot

One cannot number the voices that go unheard, or the expressions missed in the clamor.

Yet culture endures, much of it outside the narrow straits of media and commercial enterprise.

Outside Perceptual Limits

Reveal the unseen and unheard.

Elevate the real; eliminate the false.

Adulteration

The artist who is not self-reliant compromises the work.

Those who demand that art and music be free need not be surprised when they are given propaganda, and ultimately realize that art no longer exists.

Surrender Nothing

It is not modern culture, but the contemporary critique of culture that is fraudulent.

As criticism, it is not put forth with the intent of encouraging elevated expression, but as a vehicle for seizing and controlling cultural perspectives, and thereby to do the same with wealth and power.

No one understands this fact more than artists who have lost both autonomy and all means of support while "works" of no value beyond their dubious meanings as sociopolitical "statements" are lauded by the so-called intelligentsia.

Torn Curtain

The legitimacy of  'art' is always in question.

This is a means of control.  The artist may conceive and devise unprecedented concepts and methods, by which to produce entirely original works, yet until and unless such works are deemed "legitimate" or "authentic" by one or another respectable source they are of no significance whatsoever.

The fact that this recognition almost invariably takes place through either social posturing or some form of political maneuvering should never be lost upon the creative individual.

Singular Variations

Perceptions suggest and evoke reasoned responses as well as instinctual reactions.

Conversational tone changes, ideas are visualized, words chosen, and the imagination expressed in every medium.  But the clamor is ceaselessly for "free art", and so are art and artists valued.

Breaking

The arts must reject conformity and assert independent visions from positions of strength.

Totalitarian cultures cannot tolerate opposing perspectives, because they are incapable of defending absurd ideas and asinine viewpoints.  What critical thought and insight reveals, against the weight of risk and threat, courage and integrity demand the arts illuminate.

Moment

It is a simple fact.  Art is highly significant and valuable.

One cannot debase the contents of consciousness, whether personal or cultural, without serious consequences.

Substance, Shadow, Consciousness

So-called "dark" visions and expressions are but infantile, morbid extravagances.

To place greater value on technology than upon the ultimate potential of the human mind is an affront to humanity itself. Such a false perspective is one of infinitely greater hazard to freedom, culture, and society than any demoralized view of the human condition can possibly be.

Impression, Sensation

Music and memory are most often associated with time and place.

More interesting to me is the idea of removing such associations while enhancing mood of place as well as state of mind.  While the imprint of music "sets" a mood, whether at a dance party or in the soundtrack to a film, compositions crafted to stimulate, rather than dominate perception provide a context conducive to clarity in thought and feeling.

Cross the Gulf

Elevate tradition with modern perspective.

For the artist as composer, this is the sound of the future awakening in the past.

One must transcend the ignorance of the times that corrupts the beauty of darkness.

Empty, and Fill

To gain audience, repeat the known, the expected, and the understood.

To express vision, reveal what cannot be seen or heard, evoking mystery and the unknown.

Word Virus / Image Virus

Media as controlling force repeats continuous visual and verbal cues that are unconsciously absorbed.

These combine to implant ideas, ideologies, and directions for focus, yet the effect is that individual and group believe they are fully aware and act autonomously.

What is the role of the artist?  It depends upon this understanding, and the degree to which character, courage, and moral reason are developed.

Media Reach

Media recognizes, promotes and rewards all that satisfies its controllers' varied agendas.

But media does not define, grant permission to, or dictate ideas and actions to anyone, including the artist and composer.  The artist who believes otherwise is no artist at all, but a victim of delusions.

Constriction

The artist as free individual gives expression to that freedom.

If that expression is beyond the comprehension of the uninformed, the critic, or the "consumer" of art, this is a cultural issue beyond the power of the artist to correct.

The only course, as Camus would have it, is disdain, and I might add, work. It is the first fact of life for the artist that there can be no expectations, for anything whatsoever.

Imprint and Effect

Observe the levels of technical perfection at which digital programs render artistic products.

Observe, beyond the illusory excellence of contemporary productions, technology suppressing art, rather than elevating creative work.  It is an anonymous perfection, generated by artificial means, and unmarked by the stamp of individuality. In opposition to this uniformity the artist and composer must strike with force of thought.