QuoteIn Washington DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in 2007, a man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately 2000 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
After about four minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet his schedule.
About four minutes later, the violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
At six minutes, a young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.
At ten minutes, a three-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.
At forty-five minutes: The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
After one hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one applauded. There was no recognition at all.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C. Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
This experiment raised several questions:
In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made...
How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?
Video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myq8upzJDJc
A good point. I can even kinda appreciate the also-rans who play a reasonably decent tune in the London tube stations. However: what are they expecting? People in tube stations are just about the busiest and hastiest people in the world. Surely they can't be arsed? I was on hols even and I couldn't be arsed to stop, if only for fear of someone nicking my backpack while I was standing still. It could well have been Nelson Mandela and Heidi Klum doing panto. Tough luck - PICK ANOTHER TIME AND PLACE FFS!
In short - I don't get tube station 'artists'. Surely there must be other busy places out there, where people are less in a hurry. Maybe Stonehenge, Bondi beach, or the top notch Zen Master's waiting room?
Zwart - there is something to that, but there's also a lot about context, about undervaluing something that's free, about perceiving value or not because of context. In other words, if he had been playing on a street corner in a vacation resort where people were not (ostensibly) in a hurry, would it have been that different? I don't think so.
Here's the original article
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html
I think a great deal would depend on how much those passersby knew about the music they were hearing.
I'll bet that as they hurried by, with places to go and deadlines to meet, many would have thoughts like, "My, that's nice!" or "Wow, look at his fingers fly around!" But few of them would have enough background knowledge to recognize how amazing it truly was.
As a viola student long ago, I worked on some of those same pieces that Bell played, and I [like to] think I'd have recognized that I was hearing something truly superior, despite the context and despite not knowing who this person was to see him.
At least I'd have had a better chance to know it than the majority of those passersby.
Related story: Over twenty years ago, in the local music competition festival in Brandon, Manitoba, I went to listen to one of the sessions to support someone I knew. I was expecting to hear a parade of little musicians playing little pieces for comments and marks by the adjudicator. In short, an hour to be endured more than enjoyed.
Then ... an eleven-year-old boy carried his violin onto the stage ... and within fifteen seconds I was in tears, in danger of actually sobbing, stunned by virtuosity which could only be called numinous.
The piece he played was Bach's G min Fugue, from the same series that Joshua Bell played in the subway, and one that I had studied years earlier but never came anywhere near mastering.
That boy is still playing, and his music is still numinous.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIauY2cB2qA
Some people (myself among them) think he's even better than Joshua Bell.
I don't agree its because its free, theres also the fact he is playing a violin and Bach pieces which to me means "NOTHING" to me its just noise and was lucky he got $32 in my opinion
if he played something what lots of people have heard before then that would be a different matter
If I asked you to go and sit in the freezing cold, with wind blowing a gale and semi-hail scouring your face for a few hours, you might think I'd be mad.
I call it skiing and pay hundreds of dollars a year to do it.
Quotewhich to me means "NOTHING"
Exactly. It's hard to get excited about something if you don't know much about it. It's no coincidence that the only sports I find interesting to watch are those that I have participated in and know something about.
A complicating factor is that when someone is really good at something, they make it look easy, and the better they are, the easier it looks.
On the other hand, when some folks do things, it really shows that they're working hard and have to concentrate intensely. So we're aware that they're doing something difficult and we're suitably impressed.
Ironically, the very fact that the true virtuoso makes the thing look as easy as breathing is what keeps the rest of us from realizing that we should be Really Really Impressed.
Quote
This experiment raised several questions:
In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty?
If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made...
How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?
Alternative questions and conclusions might be:
What is art? What is talent? What is beautiful? How much of our appreciation of these concepts - however they might be defined or we might define them - depends on our environment, history and current surroundings?
Do we give too much emphasis to the subjective opinions of others in an attempt to fit into a pack or herd?
QuoteWhat is art? What is talent? What is beautiful? How much of our appreciation of these concepts - however they might be defined or we might define them - depends on our environment, history and current surroundings?
Anyone read 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' ?
I read it when I was in my early twenties, and it was a life changer for me (which may have been as much to do with my age, as the content)
If you haven't read it, its a 'novel' of sorts by Robert M Pirsig, in which, amongst many other things:
QuotePirsig explores the meaning and concept of quality, a term he deems to be undefinable. Pirsig's thesis is that to truly experience quality one must both embrace and apply it as best fits the requirements of the situation. According to Pirsig, such an approach would avoid a great deal of frustration and dissatisfaction common to modern life.
(Wikipedia)
The main character also speculates that 'Quality' is neither subjective, nor objective, but is what happens when subject and object come together - and may even be the force that brings them together.... having said that, he then goes temporarily insane, so perhaps not a good idea to think about it too deeply :)
If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend it.
It reminds me of the Good Samaritan experiment, #4 on this page
http://www.cracked.com/article_16239_5-psychological-experiments-that-prove-humanity-doomed.html
Haste seems to make us ignore things.
>Anyone read 'Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance' ?
Yes, just last year. But I didn't really enjoy it frankly. Too much philosophy and not enough motorcycling for me.
I find the fact that "Zen's" protagonist went insane trying to define "quality" is very apt in these days of Panda!
QuoteToo much philosophy and not enough motorcycling for me
LOL - yeah, not much about motorcycling and not much about Zen either - definitely not 'what it says on the tin'.
OTOH, there is an awful lot about slowly going mad trying to define 'quality' - so the Panda analogy seems more than appropriate :)
QuoteIn short - I don't get tube station 'artists'.
Perhaps they play for their own joy. Art for art itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6ZqKmaN2qw
Hmm the optimistic approach. Ok I'd dig that, were it not for their bowls-with-spare-change-begging-for more. Call me a cynic...
I like your approach tho, and I like the clip too. And the fact that he chose a beach (see my earlier comment) instead of a busy tube station :)
When I was visiting my sis in Chicago one frigid January afternoon, we went to the Chicago Natural History Museum. On the steps was a man playing the violin -- Christmas carols, if I remember correctly -- and he didn't have his violin case there. Let me tell you, the day was bright and sunny, but the wind cut you like a knife.
And he had a look of contentment on his bright red face that I will never forget.
Clearly, he was there because playing his violin on a sunny day made him happy. I admire people who have found their "thing" that brings them such happiness.
I think we've seen this piece before previously, and in marketing terms it was an example of perception, context, and targeting.
As the piece pointed out, if you invite people to come listen to music in a dedicated environment and charge for it, they will come. If you throw it away for free at an untargeted crowd in an untargeted environment, people will continue to move on as normal. After all, that's why they are in the station and not a concern hall.
For the record, I didn't really enjoy that bit that Joshua B was playing there; it sounds like an "acquired taste", even for a Bach fan like myself.
Maybe I would have taken some cash out of his case to pay for a pair of ear plugs (nah, that's harsh, but still)