Experiencing art
Last week, we saw an Icelandic pianist performing Bach’s compositions, and a couple of days later, a Canadian, ultra-progressive YouTuber doing standup.
The vibes couldn’t be more different, with one audience probably averaging 60+, while the other was young, alternative students.
Both made me think of art and how we experience it. I think there are two ways.
The first is more common: attending events related to our interests (be it music, theatre, or standup).
Then, we judge it based on our taste.
“I didn’t like it’
“It’s not my thing”
“I loved it”
“Best night of my life”
We all do it. However, the problem with this approach is that we put ourselves into the equation. The experience depends on us and our feelings. It’s individualistic and can be pretty shallow.
The other is to appreciate the art and the artist for their dedication, training, performance, and mastery.
In that instance, our feelings don’t matter as much. We remove ourselves from the experience and create a space where the art can be appreciated for what it is.
Another good side to this approach is that we can try things that we usually wouldn’t—and in the process, possibly find things we didn’t know we enjoyed.
Of course, the first approach is the default one, but it’s good to get out of your comfort zone sometimes and try something new.
And appreciate it even if you don’t like it.
WHAT AM I WORKING ON
As I am working on the longest video to date, we released a simple review-like one.
WHAT AM I READING
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennet. I am nearly done with the first installment of this trilogy. It took me around 30-40% to get invested in the story, but by 50%, I was sold. It got much better from that point, so I will definitely continue with the rest of them.
WHAT AM I LISTENING
Kurtis Conner Live. I watch his YouTube videos sometimes when I cook. They are commentaries, skits, and internet-culture jokes, but he also does standup. When I learned he was doing his first UK tour, I checked it out. Among the sold-out shows, I grabbed a couple of resale tickets for Birmingham, which we attended last week.
It was a bit random, a mid-week trip, but the stand-up was good, the audience gave off good vibes, and overall, it was a nice night out. It’s incredible how many fans he has, as proven by the massive queue to the merch stand. Well done.
Víkingur Ólafsson. It’s kinda funny story. Initially, I was meant to drop my mum off at Tina Turner’s musical. Still, I decided to see what else was playing that night, and I saw this Icelandic pianist performing Beethoven sonatas. So I grabbed a couple of tickets.
Then we changed Tina’s tickets and we all went to see the pianist. He also changed the performance from Beethoven to Bach’s Goldberg Variations! It was an absolutely masterful and mesmerising performance.
WHAT AM I WATCHING
I am nearly done with Severance's second season. I can’t remember the last time I was so grabbed by a show, and that’s saying something. I have been researching after hours, coming up with theories, and enjoying the masterful cinematography, music, and sound design.
I hope that they won’t mess it up like Lost, though.
That's it for now. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you (hopefully!) next week!
Mike
https://mikemigas.com/
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