Course and Trajectory

The final years of the present century are clearly foreseeable.

Existential frenzies, mindless voices crying "apocalypse" in every quarter, and everywhere the bland, banal triumph of universal ignorance and illiberal ideologies.

There is no doubt this will come to pass, unless circumstances are changed through the transcendent virtues of the arts.  And if this is possible, it must begin soon.

Sword and Shield

The first necessity is freedom of the individual.

Civilization and culture do not simply "exist" any more than they merely "happen".

Set Repeat

Bland cultural environments indicate oppressive control of thought and action in varying degrees.

Those who cannot think, speak, and act freely can neither fully experience life nor engage in any viable, original creative expression. The most visible effect of such a situation is witnessed in those who can do no more than affect cultural attitudes that are not within their direct experience, which are, at best, sad representations of a spurious reality.

Reform Modernism

A modern aesthetic is philosophically reformed and characterized by intellectual clarity.

Modernism of the late nineteenth century rejected tradition while retaining its general structures, hierarchies, and essential human values.  Late in the twentieth century, a fully nihilistic strain of thought represented itself as "postmodern", characterized by academic posturing, shallow, banal pretension, and nugatory gibberish, realized in the dead Sargasso of the contemporary moment now.

The reality of the future, and of possible futures, will not be ultimate triumph of failed ideas that bound themselves to early modernism, these being scientific materialism and collectivism in all their social, economic, political and cultural guises. but a reassertion of independent thought and freedom of expression. 

Source

Let the "aesthetic" that elevates consciousness be the one of paramount value.

This is the essential aesthetic and the origin of all others, these being lesser lights.

Breaking Point

Art and Time can not be contained or eliminated.  Their influences are manifest.

Art and Time are ever in flux, and only the artist moves in this manner, which is the expression of creation.  Civilization and creation are the mark of the artist, and without the artist, civilization will not be, and life will be altogether removed, cruel, evil, and brief.

Controversy I

Culture is manipulated; it is not evolving naturally.

This is the result of ignorance, rather than any conspiratorial action. When populations and demographics en masse are bereft of the cultural knowledge that makes essential expressions comprehensible, there can be, within such a culture, no individual freedom.

Existentially, the artist can only be an outsider.  There is no audience behind a wall of sleep.

Distortions

Absurdity is ubiquitous; it remains no less pointless.

There are those who believe, and who are being conditioned to believe, that reality must comport with one "narrative" or another.  There is no such reality.  What is needed is transcendence.

Trust

Media culture demands nothing, and requires assent in everything.

Art, conversely, expects insight, foresight, individuality, and freedom of expression.

Imagery and Individuality

Imagery's representations are formed in perceptual impression and memory.

Out of these origins are formed poetry and narrative, the visual arts, and certain forms of music, in particular the tone poem, ambient music, and aesthetic non-linear sound arrangements or designs.

These are produced by the artist, not by "collective culture".

Normal

In the absence of noise, attuned only to the brash and frenetic, some claim to hear "nothing".

Surrounding atmospheres are only as perceptible as the auditory sense is awakened and alive.

Air Space

To grasp the term "aesthetic" it is necessary to know far more than its definition.

Aesthetic means a great deal more than "appreciation of beauty" or knowledge of a set of principles underlying a work of art, architecture, literature, poetry, music, dance, and etc..

These suggestions indicate little more than general impressions and appearances.

The aesthetic experience is not simply how a given thing "looks" and the reaction one is expected by others to have in relation to it.  This is superficiality, a shallow reflection at best.

The aesthetic experience is a full and clear perceptual awareness of what, and how, such a work of art means.  As such, it is an authentic expansion of consciousness.

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Two Essays By Kyle Chayka:  

From theverge.com: Welcome to Airspace

From theguardian.com:  Same old, same old. How the hipster aesthetic is taking over the world

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Approaching

Art must be, as it will be.

What any creator envisions that is brought into being serves to make the future present.

Impression and Consciousness

The state of cultural discourse reflects the quality of civilized life.

Thus the necessity of creating new arts, new sounds, and new ways of perceiving them, rather than to simply expect their appearance in cultural conditions unfit for the elevation of humanity.

Symbol, Custom, and Balkanization

Rather than the case or situation of "audience", observe that of "participants".

It is a phenomenon of identity politics projected into the cultural setting.  One is no longer informed, experiencing, and sharing aspects and elements of culture and community, but separating into any one of numerous highly insular subcultures that evidence hostility toward all others.

This has nothing to do with art and artists, but is rather an anomaly of social conditioning that must ultimately run its course before a renewal of aesthetic values comes about.

Listening Beyond Music

Whether simple or sophisticated, music is subject to general principles of organization.

But what I am interested in are compositions based on evolving tones and their spatial and temporal relationships.

State of Being, Perceptual Acuity, Elevation

Rhythm generated responses develop as actions in individual and social interactions.

Hence, the art of advertising utilizes rhythm in its productions to enhance desirable effects, with the implication that rhythm may be consciously used to manipulate activities in various settings.

Conversely, stillness enhances reflection, equanimity, and reasoned decision making; these responses make external motivations difficult, if not impossible, to take hold in individuals and groups.

As an artist and composer, I assert that more of the latter forms of music and sound art, those based upon tone and atmosphere as opposed to frenetic movement, are called for in contemporary culture, for obvious, and yes, existential, reasons.

Depth

Grasp its appearance only; it says nothing.

Art is the connection between two worlds, between the perceiver and the reality expressed.

Delineation

Creation is representation- object, idea, event.

There is no perfection.  That is not necessary.

Form, manner, expression, and ultimately, vision- these are of critical importance.

Clear Cause

For the time being, culture appears bereft of focus upon clarity of thinking.

Reason, and what is typically called the evidence of the senses, is all but eliminated from the cultural discourse, which is dominated by emotion and feeling.  One need not even question the agendas behind this development over the last decades.  It is enough to know it as an element of control in various scenarios involving social engineering throughout corporate, political, academic, and cultural settings. Only the individual can choose to transcend these failures of objectivity and the intellect, but even so, it is a monumental challenge to overcome these ubiquitous forces.