Appreciation

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by Jussi M.

I would like to change the words "great Art" with "what we identify with enjoyment". – Why? Because I personally feel that the usual associations we get from the word "Art" exclude most of what we identify with enjoyment but not the other way around

Fine with me. "what we identify with enjoyment" Whatever terminology you enjoy.

I know there are certain things that fill me, deeply fill me. I have realized that these things also always have new aspects. I have had oriental carpets for many years. I have looked carefully at them for years, yet every time I look at them, and relax, I see things that I have never seen before. New designs and patterns, patterns that I enjoy.

Yet, it takes relaxing and putting aside the rush of the daily activities. That Joshua Bell was playing some of the most intricate and powerful music -- in a subway while most people blindly walked by -- does not surprise me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc
you will notice a few people who stood and listened. Some knew who he was, others heard something they enjoyed.

The majority of these people were focussed on the cares of the day, not a 'street musician looking for tips.' Yet later, I could guess, some of these same people may have bought tickets, sat down in cool darkness of the theater and were transported by the exact same music.

I have bought CDs of these pieces and his work is breathtaking. Without telling friends who he is, or who wrote the music, have played it in a relaxed atmosphere and have seen them moved to tears by the grandeur.

So, "what we identify with enjoyment". We, my wife Anne and I, have a diverse collection from many different countries, wide-ranging in scope. China, Indonesia, Philippines, Africa, India, Papua New Guinea, and others. "What is the common thread?"

Simply, we collect what we enjoy. But let me take that a little deeper we feel that it is not really the object itself that we enjoy, it is something beyond the object that gives us enjoyment. The object is a conduit.

Sometimes an overwhelming conduit! Earlier I mentioned the Stendhal Syndrome. For those not familiar, here is a definition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome