Every year, the Donaueschinger Musiktage - a festival of sound art - presents 'new works', chewing on aesthetics and ideas half a century old, with ever reinforced efforts to keep the myth of postwar modernism intact. The results are, however, primitive as always, and have nothing to do with music which is an art form based on fixed pitches which form relationships with each other. There is nothing wrong with sound art, but the stunning phenomenon that so many people call it 'music', and its creators 'composers', can only be explained by the thorough conformism which reigns within the bubble of sonicism. Elsewhere I have already written about the German sonic artist Helmut Lachenmann ('Be liberated!').....
..... with sufficient arguments. Festivals like the Donaueschingen can only be described as entirely conformist, conventional showcases for ambitious people without musical talents or musical understanding, parading as 'progressive composers', entirely unaware of the primitive nature of the results of their efforts and the old tradition of their futurism. It would be so much more honest if the festival would drop the claim that it is about music, and fully embrace the description of sonic art ('Klangkunst'), instead of presenting their sounds as music which is an entirely false claim. It seems that nowadays, females are entering the field, to give the art form another gloss of 'progressiveness'. That gendered conformism does not alter the results, is however an insight still escaping the sonic idealists.
About Me
- The Subterranean Review
- Education: Rotterdam Conservatory, Cambridge University // Activities: composition, writing
Wednesday, 23 October 2019
Monday, 23 September 2019
Genius
Description of the work of a 20C American painter:
...... these works—included in the exhibition—are now clearly recognized as works of pure genius and are almost priceless.
So, not totally priceless, but remarkable enough to receive the accolade of 'genius'. What could this be? The work of Cy Twombly, whose visual exercises struck the heart of every viewer who thus recognized the state of his/her own inner life. Obviously, as can be seen when the link underneath is followed, this type of work is not about visuals, but about the ideas around it, and the intention of the maker. It is an 'art form' where content has been completely transferred from the object into the rarified sphere of ideas, which can be easily manipulated because being so disconnected from the reality of the object.
There is more:
It is remarkable how powerfully these early works pulsate and vibrate with the intense energy that the artist invested into them almost 70 years ago and it is easy to see why his professor, Robert Motherwell, said “there is nothing to teach him.”
And:
During the 1970s Twombly was championed by Yvon Lambert, the French gallerist who instinctively grasped Twombly’s genius and exhibited his first solo show in Paris, in 1971. Lambert’s energy, combined with a special synergy between him and the artist, generated enough interest in Twombly’s work to bring about an exhibition of works on paper at the Musee d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1976.
Obviously, such 'art' is infective where the absence of aesthetics offers space for psychopathological projection. Here is the source, which reads like a spoof, a hilarious joke, to caricature the nonsense of such 'art'. But no, it is a deadly serious exercise:
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/decyphering-genius-cy-twombly-major-centre-pompidou-show-768380
...... these works—included in the exhibition—are now clearly recognized as works of pure genius and are almost priceless.
So, not totally priceless, but remarkable enough to receive the accolade of 'genius'. What could this be? The work of Cy Twombly, whose visual exercises struck the heart of every viewer who thus recognized the state of his/her own inner life. Obviously, as can be seen when the link underneath is followed, this type of work is not about visuals, but about the ideas around it, and the intention of the maker. It is an 'art form' where content has been completely transferred from the object into the rarified sphere of ideas, which can be easily manipulated because being so disconnected from the reality of the object.
There is more:
It is remarkable how powerfully these early works pulsate and vibrate with the intense energy that the artist invested into them almost 70 years ago and it is easy to see why his professor, Robert Motherwell, said “there is nothing to teach him.”
And:
During the 1970s Twombly was championed by Yvon Lambert, the French gallerist who instinctively grasped Twombly’s genius and exhibited his first solo show in Paris, in 1971. Lambert’s energy, combined with a special synergy between him and the artist, generated enough interest in Twombly’s work to bring about an exhibition of works on paper at the Musee d’art Moderne de la Ville de Paris in 1976.
Obviously, such 'art' is infective where the absence of aesthetics offers space for psychopathological projection. Here is the source, which reads like a spoof, a hilarious joke, to caricature the nonsense of such 'art'. But no, it is a deadly serious exercise:
https://news.artnet.com/exhibitions/decyphering-genius-cy-twombly-major-centre-pompidou-show-768380
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