Individualism and the desire to express yourself is ingrained in the contemporary human condition. However, our consumer driven culture teaches us to express ourselves through only consumption. The clothes we wear, the bands we like, and the books we read are considered key components to our identity.
Expressing yourself through consumption gives you a false sense of individuality. To be truly progressive and open minded you need to do more than show an affinity for the brands that are associated with the progressive end of the mainstream domain of thought.
One of the characteristics of an artist is that he or she has the desire to step outside of this domain of mainstream thinking. One of the appeals of creating art is that it gives you the opportunity to express yourself be creating, instead of by consuming. In fact, it encourages you to do so. As our culture becomes increasingly consumption-oriented, art will help us find our true individuality more and more.
Art is a form of communication. But what is unique about art as opposed to other communication channels? What are the advantages of expressing yourself through art, as opposed to doing so through some other form? If you have something to say, why not just say it? What kinds of things are better expressed through art? [...]
Which one(s) are you? Musicians make their careers out of being any of of the three, some combination thereof, or even all three simultaneously. The punk genre is driven by its artistic statement. It even goes so far as to disregard composition and musicianship. Part of the art itself is that ‘anyone can do it’, [...]
Music is particularly powerful if it can be envisioned within a different genre, or even a different artistic medium altogether. One of the reasons people enjoy Christopher O’Riley’s playing is because he strips good rock compositions into minimal solo piano pieces. While listening to him perform, you come to appreciate the composition itself. You realize that there was something more [...]
Over the past couple of years, being part of Mid 2 The East, I have learned to appreciate the obvious gradient in music style from India, all the way to Eastern Europe and beyond. Having listened to Hindustani Classical music for most of my life (disclaimer: I have never professionally learned it), being exposed to some [...]
