Does Art Need an Audience?

Socrates and Phaedrus duking it out in an epic battle of the minds.

So last Wednesday my Comp class had a “mini-symposium” as we reflected on the writings of Plato in a passage of the Phaedrus. The passage’s main topic of debate was whether writing could convey as much information as normal conversation and whether constantly writing information down rather than simply memorizing and recalling said information would result in a loss of intelligence. While debating this issue, my class somehow got onto the topic of what makes art art. As a musician and a lover of all forms of art, this thought intrigued me. What makes something art?

The immediate answer to the question is that if someone finds that thing to be beautiful or otherwise artistic, it is art. So is a bag full of trash art because someone might think it to be pleasing? I guess so. After all, who am I to say what is and isn’t art? “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” so they say. However, another question came up: If something’s status as a work of art is dependent on someone’s interpretation of it, does that mean that something cannot be art if it has no audience?

I had to think hard on this question. But then I realized something: a work of art has to have an artist, just as a creation needs a creator. And that artist is likely to find his or her own work to be art. So, I guess you could say that a work of art always has an audience. So what if not even the artist finds beauty in his or her creation? I guess that’s the only time something could be regarded as garbage.

In regards to online writing and blogging and such, I find it hard to believe that any decent writing could be considered garbage. The online audience is simply too vast for there to be no one to appreciate it. Also, a blog is a very pliable work of art. You can easily change things and improve based on feedback from your audience. If people don’t like it at first, you can fix it.

This whole topic was quite intriguing. I had a lot of fun discussing it with my fellow classmates.

And speaking of art, did you see the painting I included on my previous post? Gee whiz.

Authoring a Wiki Article

Gustav Klimt’s The Kiss. Amazing.

I found that photo on Wikipedia, which is more or less today’s topic. These past few days I’ve been working an article on Sandbox for my Composition class’ Wiki on digital literacy. I must say, after going through the motions to create the page, and having done a bit of peer review in the process, I have so much more respect for the people that do this all the time. Wikis are a splendid tool for amassing information and educating people. And, not only did I have the chance to research a topic and educate others on it, but I learned much from what others brought to the table.

The entire experience of writing the article was surprisingly enjoyable. My favorite part (call me boring) was using HTML code in regards to the references. I was able to include little superscripts that would link parts of the article to the reference page (just like you would find in a Wikipedia article). The cool thing was that when I used certain codes to make the superscripts, the reference page created itself! I had only heard of people using HTML code, but experiencing it firsthand was fascinating! I know it’s a bit strange to get so excited over HTML, but I honestly found it to be a great deal of fun.

More importantly, however, I think that participating in this project has really taught me a lot about how important it is to be digitally literate in order to share ideas and knowledge in this day and age. It takes more than just being able to write some words down on a page to offer reliable information. Wikis have strict standards as to how information must be presented, and knowing how that works is essential to be an effective communicator.

I would link you to my article, but I’m currently unable to. Here’s the Wikipedia article on Sandbox in software development to give you an idea of the topic of Sandbox.

This is completely off-topic, but if you’re a musician and/or classical music fan, check out P.D.Q. Bach. Basically, he intentionally writes horrible classical music. It’s great. Here’s his cantata titled Iphigenia in Brooklyn.

An Unintentional Fasting

I found myself unintentionally going without my computer for 24 hours. I know. I’m so hardcore. It so happened that this Friday was an extremely busy day for me. I got up around 5:30 that morning and headed straight to Edmond, OK to play with the Oklahoma City University Symphony Orchestra at the three different Edmond high schools. When we returned from Edmond, a good deal of us had to go straight to pit orchestra rehearsal for the upcoming production of the Barber of Seville (insert obligatory Youtube video here). Then, right after pit orchestra I had a rehearsal with a fellow student having her senior vocal recital the next day. I was asked to play in a baroque string quartet that would be accompanying her in a piece.

Immediately after that rehearsal, I met some old high school friends for dinner, and we later went to the Project 21 concert that evening. (For those of you who don’t know, Project 21 is OCU’s student composition program, and they hold monthly concerts featuring student-written pieces. Check out their website.) But of course, my day couldn’t end there. I was invited to go to a friend’s house to watch a movie. I stayed there until the wee hours of the morning, and by the time I returned to my dormitory around 2:00 AM, where my laptop was eagerly waiting for me, I was too tired to do anything with it. I decided I would leave it alone until morning.

When I woke up, I realized that I had gone a full 24 hours without using my computer. Crazy, I know. Yet when I opened my Facebook up after 24 hours of not checking it, I found myself with eight notifications. . . . Just eight. And none of them were important or even very interesting. I went all that time without getting on Facebook, and lo and behold, nothing had happened. I check my Facebook almost obsessively, but I found that I really have no need to.

It was then that I had a miniature revelation: I’ve become so obsessive-compulsive about checking my Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, and the like, but it’s not really necessary to be checking these things as often as I do. I know the internet is an amazing tool, but the way I’ve been using it has been shallow and unproductive. This little epiphany has spurred me to do something rash (and just in time for the Lent season!): I’m gonna try to stop getting on the internet so often. With all of the time I spend on Facebook or Reddit, I could easily be much more productive than I am now If I take that time to do more important things (like homework, reading the Bible, or simply letting my mind rest). And if I can go a full 24 hours without using my computer without any remorse, I’m sure it’s possible for me to consistently lower my internet use.

While writing this, however, I checked my Facebook about six times. . . . This may be harder than I thought.

Photo credit: Slawekgruca

Victor Borge – Inflationary Language

The Importance of Having Good Titles and Headers

I’m going to set this as a ground rule: If I can’t find a photo relevant to the topic of the post, then I will include a photo completely irrelevant to the subject.

Yesterday I perused the Writing Spaces open-source textbook (conveniently situated right here), and I read a section named “Page Titles, Headlines, and Subheaders, OH MY!” which addressed how important it is to have catchy, engaging, and informative titles. If a blogger truly wants to attract readers as well as gain attention from search engines and the like, he or she needs to title content so that it catches the reader’s eye amongst all the other stuff on the Internet. Something that the Writing Spaces textbook taught me that I totally agreed with, being a fellow Internet reader and all, is that getting a reader’s attention on the Internet is challenging. With all of the resources and knowledge on the Web, if a reader doesn’t see exactly what they need, or the content doesn’t look too enticing, they will move on without a thought. If you have a good title that tells readers exactly what is contained in your writing, or if you can create a catchy and appealing title, you will likely gain the reader’s attention, however limited that attention might be. (But in the immortal words of Billy Mays, “But wait! There’s more!”)

Alright, so with the great title, the blogger has the audience’s attention. But like I said, Internet readers will move on quickly if they don’t see what they need. That’s when headers and subheaders come in. If your writing can afford to be broken up into sections or segments, clearly label them according to what information is there. That way, readers will be able to easily find what information they need and find it quickly. With any luck, they’ll come back for more in the near future.

In conclusion, you should read some of this textbook. It has a lot of useful information regarding writing on the Web. Like me, you may know a good deal of it, but you may not really be aware of knowing it. Getting that information fresh in your mind is quite beneficial.

Farewell, i miei amici. (That’s “my friends” in Italian, in case you were wondering.)

P.S. I know the whole “irrelevant photo” thing kinda goes against the whole “have good titles and headers” thing. However, I ask you this: Who doesn’t love cats?

P.P.S. Any professor that uses a FREE online textbook for a class is automatically awesome.

Photo credit: Villya

Musical Literacy

I’m not going to say that everyone thinks musicians are lazy, wishy-washy, and irrational individuals who contribute nothing to society. (However, I’m not saying that it’s not possible for musicians to be like that; they definitely exist.) I’m sure people have figured out by now that the bulk of musicians are hardworking, talented, and creative. But sometimes it’s easy to forget that the field of music is so much more complicated than it seems. Musical competence takes a great deal of literacy in the subject. So, I would like to illustrate functional, advanced, and critical literacy (as defined by the Digital Textuality Wiki) within the field of music to show just how much a musician can learn. (I’m not directly addressing my own musical skills or learning style as I’m nowhere near a good example of musical literacy.)

Functional literacy in music would consist of a basic knowledge of playing a certain instrument, knowing how to read music, and being familiar with common music notation. For example, a person functionally literate in playing the violin would be capable of playing some simple pieces, know the difference between “forte” and “piano,” and be able to identify different time and key signatures. Note that it takes plenty of practice just to reach this point of musical competence. Most music students would fall in either this category, or somewhere between this and advanced literacy.

Beyond functional literacy, Advanced literacy in music would be close to a decent professional musician, or at least a musical veteran. There comes a point where a musician has the ability to play almost any piece of music regardless of the difficulty. It may take many hours of practice, but it is possible. An advanced musician should be able to wrap his or her head around virtually any piece of music (with plenty of practice, of course), be able to play in many different playing styles, be knowledgeable on most music notation (at least pertaining to that instrument), and easily perform in a solo setting or in an ensemble. A good musician should also have enough musical knowledge to be able to teach at least to the point of functional literacy. After that, the sky is the limit. (I’m looking at you, Hilary Hahn.)

Critical literacy really goes beyond skill in an instrument or any other form of musical performance. At this point, a person would begin to study the history of music and how it has progressed throughout time and within different cultures. Any professional musician should have a grasp of music history, such as influential composers of the past and present, musical movements (baroque, romantic, etc.) and music’s historical significance; be competent enough to analyse pieces of music and recognize certain compositional techniques concerning style, rhythm, themes, etc.; and even be able to critique musical performances regarding style, tonal quality, and other various musical qualities. Truth be told, I’ve actually never been educated on these concepts besides what I have picked up from violin lessons and playing in the orchestra.

When you really gets into the thick of musical education, you discover that music is by no means a dubious profession; it is an art, and a complicated one at that. I can say with absolute certainty that even after eleven years of playing the violin, I haven’t even come close to perfecting my musical skills. Those that do achieve musical perfection are bright, dedicated, indefatigable (yes, I said indefatigable), and truly gifted.

Photo credit: marva78