and just a little bit more

as i was driving back to work after writing the last post, it made me think some more. maybe the question that i've been asking is begging for greater application. maybe it isn't so much the fact that popular media is distorting music. maybe that's what popular media functions as. its a different lense. and for myself to judge popular media in such a way is also a lense. but the true meaning behind this all is the actual music and our own interpretation of it. and this is what the project is about.

in bruce lee's tao of jeet kune do, bruce explains that the action is more than just the actor. the action being the event that has taken place, or in our case a song, melody, or rhythm. the actor being those that contribute to the action, which in our case is the musician. bruce explains it in terms of combat, but it is easily translatable to music or any kind of art form. what we see is the emphasis on the actor and not the action. maybe we live in an era in which ownership, fear, and reward are stressed over the actual product.

take my workplace for example. our little community is based around the idea of fear. everyone is more interested in creating and placing blame on individuals whenever a problem occurs. all focus and energy is spent on this that when it comes to the actual problem, we find that it rarely gets done in a timely matter.

a month ago i saw a special on pbs about the mystery behind andy warhol. andy played a very bland character every time he was interviewed. he never once showed any sort of character. in fact, many of the interviewers told the special that he was boring to interview, that he never showed emotion. but maybe andy is thinking of the exact same thing as we're talking about here. the importance of the art should take precedence over the acclaim of the artist. we can find meaning and understanding in the artist through their work and not necessarily through their escapades through the bars and red carpets.

and its hard to judge, because we all want to get to know our favorite musician or artist, but maybe the first place we need to look is in the actual art. who they are will eventually enter into the work.

bhurin

playlist:
dustin kensrue - please come home
dredg - leitmotif