I find very good musicians on the street in Brighton. That is why I hate programmes like X-Factor as they peddle crap to the masses.

And yes, people do stop and listen.

Once, it was late, it was dark, it was getting cold, and I found this guy playing a guitar on the Brighton seafront, no one about. He was incredible. Then a girl walked by, she sat and listened. I was then at risk of missing a train. I apologised for leaving.

Another time, I found a guy sitting in a doorway just off Leicester Square in London. He only had to hit a couple of chords to appreciate how good he was. I hunkered down and joined him He was quite delighted to be appreciated.

A couple of days ago I stumbled across Shadowboxer, live sessions at Surrey University and studio sessions. I could not believe how good they were.

Carly Bryant is someone I found playing in The Lanes in Brighton. I sat on the curb entranced.

Yes, context is a factor, but not all.

We have complete and utter crap masquerading as art. Critics say it is good. A case of the Emperor’s Clothes. If outside the context we would dismiss it for what it is, rubbish. But no one dare say so, because it has been put on a pedestal as Art.

Celebrity is confused as a synonym for talent.

We have a semi-literate writer winning the Booker Prize. Judges complaining of writing being too simple. Paulo Coelho dismissed by critics for his simplicity, unable to perceive simplicity as elegance.

Is not the art of writing being able to communicate? If we cannot communicate we cannot write.

Never make the mistake of confusing simple writing with bad writing or incomprehensible writing with good writing.

The good scientist is the one who is able to communicate ideas, not make unintelligible and thus appear intelligent because we are made to feel unintelligent for failing to comprehend.

http://keithpp.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/joshua-bell-busking-on-the-washington-metro/

How many people on their way to work are going to stop for anything?

I avoid London rush hour, but on the rare occasions I have got caught up in it it is like being swept along by a crowd of zombies, all with blank expressions on their faces.

What if Joshua Bell had played in a park? What if he had played on the streets of Brighton?

Yes, I believe too, that without context there is nothing. There is no meaning to nothing. It is only the audience that makes one an artist, for I could otherwise argue (without being able to prove it, I must add) that there are countless talented people out there, whose veritable genius we will never know ~ because their talent has not found an audience.

“Even at this accelerated pace, though, the fiddler’s movements remain fluid and graceful; he seems so apart from his audience — unseen, unheard, otherworldly — that you find yourself thinking that he’s not really there. A ghost.
Only then do you see it: He is the one who is real. They are the ghosts”.

I think this is a perfect example where money making capitalism leads us.
Lovely article and experiment, love it!

ils sont emprisonnés dans leur routine et alors leurs yeux ne voient pas , et leurs oreilles n'entendent pas

ils se donnent un moment précis pour ouvrir leurs yeux (cinéma) ou pour écouter ( concert , théâtre ) ; mais ne sont pas ouvert au monde comme avant : ils ont perdu le contact avec leurs sens et avec les richesses du monde qui les entoure

trop de matérialisme , d'égoisme , d'individualité coupent le lien avec la nature , l'homme et le monde

le rendez-vous “du congrès économique ” de janvier 2009 doit prendre en compte l'individu en tant que personne et non en tant qu'une entité de travail , de production de richesse ( trop de richesse tue la richesse Paulo )

sorry my translator is out

A couple of years ago I took this picture of a single fall leaf in the rain. I thought that you could appreciate it. Here’s the link:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/99/272573292_80347ddb45_o.jpg

oh and I believe that art is just simply that, a portrayal of everyday circumstances only, an artist was able to convey the beauty of it through his eyes.

On the other hand, what was even more amazing, and even though people often took it for granted, was that seven people actually stopped and listened to Joshua Bell, being deeply moved by his music. I think for each of the seven people who did that, they touched art, and even if it is only for three minutes, it’s an amazing thing. And it was too for Joshua Bell, I think. This was what he said, ” At a music hall, I’ll get upset if someone coughs or if someone’s cellphone goes off. But here, my expectations quickly diminished.I started to appreciate any acknowledgment, even a slight glance up. I was oddly grateful when someone threw in a dollar instead of change.”

And lastly, I realize that I can be just as creative as any of the great artists. Everything around me is a creative process, and if I am open to it – wham! I don’t want to miss a single second of life again.

Art is meant for the heart and soul before the brain.

Last year in uni we read the essay “Context as a determinant of photographic meaning” by J. A. Walker. He points out how eg. a wedding photograph can be represented in a family album, in a news paper, in the window of a photography studio, in a gallery, in an archive, etc… and how the meaning changes with each change of context. Context does not make art, but it gives it a meaning.

In the case of Joshua Bell busking in the metro station, people who could put the music in some sort of personal context, ie. could relate to it, also paid attention to it. But then so many people (adults) are distracted most of the day, so they (we) are incapable of paying attention to the exact moment that’s going on.

I agree with what many have said here, art is everywhere, if only we are open to see it.

To me, this is another reason the bible proves far ahead of our understanding…

K.

In everyday life where the context is the world or the universe, objects, actions or cordination of interaction of objects and people might create art but will be interpreted as regular motions or life.

To my opinion its a matter of how the messages want to be interpreted by the different viewers.

and this experiment shows this even more: for many people art is art when it is paid for, like a good wine is a good wine only when the bottle costs over 20 euro, or has a certain name. some people are simply conditioned that way, and limit themselves unfortunately… ‘fear of the unknown’, or ‘follow the crowd’, I guess.
some can’t see the artist next to them… anybody can be artist in some way or another.
and yes art is everywhere, and it is all for free, if one is able to see, listen, feel…

…. and art is seen in a very personal perspective… some people just don’t like classical music, even if it’s Bell playing!

…. and some just think they MUST like it because it IS Bell (in a concert hall), they actually don’t listen much more to the music than the ones in the metro, it is only social make-up!