Appreciation

[Jussi M.]

Originally Posted by Rick

Jussi

So, what do you think ?

Are you crazy too ?

Rick

You need to ask?




Maybe it is so that the so labelled "crazy" amongst us actually are the healthiest? Anyway, I very much agree with what Mr. Bill Marsh has put forth a few posting before only that 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.

Stones and rocks? Sure. – I usually have one in the front pocket of my jeans. At the writing of this I have two, one in each pocket – the usual good luck stone and its more recent back up

[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

[David]

Originally Posted by Bill Marsh

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 would like to comment that the Joshua Bell example does have a few problems. First and foremost, human beings will follow their survival instincts. Mr. Bell playing in a subway during rush hour doesn't receive the attention it deserves simply because people are rushing to get to their jobs on time. On time arrival to jobs = keeping those jobs=feeding ones family. If you put Mr. Bell in Central Park on a pleasant Sunday afternoon i believe you would see a completely different reception of then music. Their have been so many times when i have had to rush past a good musician playing in the NYC subways that my ear recognized as someone worth stopping to listen to, but my schedule would not allow. It wasn't a matter of venue so much as timing. Of course i would often drop a little something in their music case on my way past if i thought them worthy, but could not stay to listen, a recognition that seems missing in this Washington subway station show.

[Jussi M.]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Jussi, the reason I included "art" along with "objects" was because I wanted people to consider things like the performing arts. I considered "enjoyment" and "satisfaction" and a few other ways of phrasing the idea I had, but when I went that way I just couldn't get away from food, sex and drugs.

OK.

[A. G. Maisey]

Yes David, I agree completely.

Part of the act of appreciation is the time and place.

My original comment in post #1:-


We could argue that the concert goers are paying their hundreds of dollars for a total experience --- the atmosphere, the chance to rub shoulders with important people, the opportunity to be seen, photographed, and appear in the society pages. Maybe. But the violinist is the same --- subway : concert stage. Same man, same music. But unappreciated because of place.


I used the Josh Bell example because I believe that it is pretty well known. I've had it quoted to me in at least three different situations, and quoted to illustrate at least three different ideas. What I wanted to do was to give a simple, easily understood example to demonstrate that the act of appreciation does depend upon more than the thing being appreciated.

I keep coming back to this:-

for one reason or another art or an object can make us feel good

why?

if I read back through the posts to this thread I think I can see a common idea that has been expressed in a number of ways

I believe it is this idea that is what this thread is about.

[Bill M]

This Joshua Bell experiment continues to haunt me. I was talking recently with a well-known psychiatrist about this event. He said that one of the biggest factors influencing our behavior is environment. A huge difference in a subway and a concert hall. He was not at all surprised that Joshua Bell was mostly ignored. Obviously people are thinking of other things and usually intentionally ignoring buskers and panhandlers.

But he made a very interesting observation. Other than some people who recognized Bell, the one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother had to pull him away, but the entire time the boy was watching the violinist. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

I will be 67 soon. A few years ago I decided to make a conscious effort to relax more often and enjoy life. My wife, Anne, is a constant joy. She has this childlike quality to stop for a rose, a pebble, a sunset, things that I had blocked out.

I used to push her along like the mothers above, but now, I stop and respect her interest -- whole new worlds open.

"Verily I say unto you, Except ye turn, and become as little children, ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of Heaven."

[Bill M]

Its a quiet Saturday morning and I have time to muse.

One of the topics in this fascinating thread has to do with Beauty. I worked my way through college as an Architectural photographer. I have always felt a bond with buildings and the men (and women) who designed them.

An architect takes an idea, translates it into form, function and substance, creating places where we live, work, are entertained, and worship. What a great occupation!

A photographer is always updating his portfolio. I was very good at my work, but I realized that I wanted to have spectacular, beautiful photos of, well, spectacular buildings. In short I wanted a perfect beautiful photo of a building whether the architect was paying me to photograph that building or not.

So I began a search for the perfect photographs for my portfolio. The most beautiful buildings photographed perfectly. I drove streets, studied buildings, waited for the sun to strike the building perfectly while I chose the right film, the right lens, the right angle.

I worked very hard, but the "right" picture, the "beautiful picture" eluded me. Something was always off! I took no pictures, none. My search for perfection created a log jam in my head that went so far as to effectively stop me from taking ANY pictures -- even the work for which I had been commissioned.

Stymied, angry, frustrated, I remember sitting on my camera case staring at a huge parking garage an architect wanted photographed. I thought, "A damn parking garage! Frank Lloyd Wright would never do anything like that!"

A moment, an epiphany struck me. I had it backwards. I had set up an impossible no-win situation -- find and take the perfect, beautiful picture? No, doesn't work that way! Find the beauty inherent in whatever you are seeing.

The parking garage seemed to change, huge, dramatic sweeping lines, massive white concrete punctuated by brilliantly colored automobiles, and much, much more. I felt a bond between me, my camera and the magnificent building.

The architects were thrilled! From that moment, from that perspective I did some of my best work. My portfolio glowed with beautiful photographs.

The point is that when we first seek beauty, that connection, the world gives it. From the right frame of reference, there is beauty everywhere.

[drdavid]

Bill, I think you have hit the nail on the head, beauty can be found anywhere, if we are open to seeing it
drd

[Jussi M.]

Originally Posted by Bill M

A photographer is always updating his portfolio. I was very good at my work, but I realized that I wanted to have spectacular, beautiful photos of, well, spectacular buildings. In short I wanted a perfect beautiful photo of a building whether the architect was paying me to photograph that building or not.

So I began a search for the perfect photographs for my portfolio. The most beautiful buildings photographed perfectly. I drove streets, studied buildings, waited for the sun to strike the building perfectly while I chose the right film, the right lens, the right angle.

I worked very hard, but the "right" picture, the "beautiful picture" eluded me. Something was always off! I took no pictures, none. My search for perfection created a log jam in my head that went so far as to effectively stop me from taking ANY pictures -- even the work for which I had been commissioned.

Stymied, angry, frustrated, I remember sitting on my camera case staring at a huge parking garage an architect wanted photographed. I thought, "A damn parking garage! Frank Lloyd Wright would never do anything like that!"

A moment, an epiphany struck me. I had it backwards. I had set up an impossible no-win situation -- find and take the perfect, beautiful picture? No, doesn't work that way! Find the beauty inherent in whatever you are seeing.

The parking garage seemed to change, huge, dramatic sweeping lines, massive white concrete punctuated by brilliantly colored automobiles, and much, much more. I felt a bond between me, my camera and the magnificent building.

The architects were thrilled! From that moment, from that perspective I did some of my best work. My portfolio glowed with beautiful photographs.

The point is that when we first seek beauty, that connection, the world gives it. From the right frame of reference, there is beauty everywhere.

I must say the above write up from Bill truly rang a bell on my head.

It actually hit it pretty hard. A knockout of Sorts? – Yes, or maybe a epiphany would be a better term.

Please let me ramble a bit – I will get to the point soon... So, lets speak about something else first... Lets talk about watches and audio: I´ve been always enamored with watches and within the past 10 years or so I´ve managed to get somewhat deep onto the watch-collecting game and all that comes along with it: trading, socializing on hobbyists forums with fellow collectors and photographing them tickers - you cannot play the game of show & tell on the forums unless you take pictures of ´em timepieces.

Many matured watch-collectors have a pretty good set of photographic equipment at their disposal. - Many feel that it is not sufficient to have neat tickers - you have to be able to take cool pics of them too. So, the cameras become upgraded regularly as does the rest of the equipment. - They use light tents, filters, macro-lenses... you name it. I however take my pictures (and I take them daily) with a 6 year old mobile phone camera having learnt a valuable lesson from the time I leaned heavily towards high-end audio.

This is where we loop back to Bill´s posting, please bear me. So... twenty-odd years ago when I was a freshman in the university I bought a new set of speakers for my stereo-equipment. I was astonished with the effect it had on the sound!

I was astounded, and, when I learnt out that playing romantic music for visiting girls with a good sounding rig was not a bad tactic from my part I became even more interested on the secrets of audio reproduction...

So... I went back to the audio store to see what else could be done... I soon learnt what differentiates an integrated amplifier from a separate pre- and power-amp combo, what are the pros and cons of them, how does room acoustics apply to the equation, what are the differences between solid state vrs. tube vrs. hybrid designs... why is a short signal path important, how does cabling affect the sound... Etc. Soon I had tons of Audio magazines all around the house and a rig that costed more than I could afford and which was always somewhat OK but still "wrong" sonically - there was always something that could be bettered... After years of enthusiastic upgrading and finally finding a setup in which all the components complemented each other on an almost perfect way... I decided to sell the equipment (save for the loudspeaker- and signal cabling which I still have... Just could not sell them as it took me bloody ages and countless hours of trial and error to find the "perfect" cabling ).

Why I sold?

Because somewhere along the line I had lost the spark that initiated my interest towards High-End Audio in the first place - the love for music. Instead of enjoying the music I had reached a learnt state in which I was listening to the setup instead of the actual music, trying to pinpoint the systems weaknesses looking already forward to the next upgrade. To put it frankly I lost the appetite for music for years. Even today I never concentrate to listen to it per se whilst I have learnt to enjoy it again. - Good music is good never mind the media it is reproduced via.

This is why I refuse to upgrade my watch-photographing rig beyond my six year old mobile phone. I much prefer to wait for a good light and hope some of the pics got out OK than start fiddling with light tents and be afraid of getting infected with a "gotta get a better camera-bug".

You may now ask what does any of the above has to do with what Bill wrote and the appreciation theme this thread is about? In my opinion appreciation is purest when it is not clouded by knowledge. A novice may appreciate a thing based on feeling only as much as a seasoned expert can but for different reasons and a different frame of mind. Which is the purer form of appreciation - appreciating something whilst not knowing anything about it ("cool" or "awesome") or appreciating something knowingly ("yes, this is a very rare specimen from the late Ming Dynasty")? In my personal opinion the innocence and clumsiness associated with novice amateurism is somehow admirably pure and spiritually elevating compared to professionalism and expertise for what is an expert but a novice who has lost his innocence (and with it the capability of wonderment?)? – I think what Bill found with that parking garage experience of his hence was renewed ability to see things through novices eyes past acquired technical skills and experience?

Not a good pic but good enough – yes, I also appreciate this old Seiko of mine




Thanks for taking the time to read this.

J.