why happy people are superior pt 3
 

this is my theory on the appreciation of music/movies/art/etc

it is a jewel of wisdom i have obtained through many years of strenuous online research and introspection

i have come to the conclusion that there are two basic ways to approach the appreciation of art

the first and more common way is to view the artists as contestants and yourself as the judge. either they make music/art/whatever that meets your standards, and thus earn your seal of approval, making you a fan, or they fail to meet said standards and you become a critic/hater/non-fan.

in this approach, you challenge artists to meet your subjective standards and leverage your position as the judge and arbitrator of artistic merit. this is basically a power play. the problem with this method is that you invest interest in yourself as a critic, which in some cases might actually act as an obstruction to you appreciating the art in question.

because you don't want your status as a person with good taste to be tainted by signing off on what is seen as a substandard artist by other critics. and so the messy business of diplomacy and politics begins to manifest among the cartels of critics.

the second way is to view any piece of art as an emotional message from the artist to the fan. a fan tries their best to decipher said message, but in some cases might lack the context for that message to really resonate. in such a case, the fan is missing out on appreciating the artist, rather than the artist failing to reach the fan.

the artist has already done their part in making the art. the onus is now on the fan to learn how to derive some sort of enjoyment from said art. a failure to do so is simply that, a failure. but you can't win em all.

I'm in the second boat and I guess that makes me happy. I don't agree with the first one because it could lead you to judging albums on criterium that are not relevant or appropriate for that record. If you go into a Marley song expecting all of the pummeling force of grindcore because to you that's what makes a good record, then you're probably not going to be a big fan of Marley.

Take that **** on a case by case basis. **** the supposed 'rules of music'.

I think most art (visual, aural, anything) has to reach you somehow on an emotional level. If I can look at a painting and say, yeah it's ok, then the artist has not reached me on that level, whereas if I look at it and feel something (even if that something is revulsion) then they have reached me. Same with music. If music doesn't touch me on some sort of emotional level, I usually don't tend to like it. Not saying every song has to, but in general, I prefer to be moved by music, or art.

Which of those arbitrary categories you've described above that puts me in I don't know.

I try to digest music the way I imagine the artist would hope the listener would. If it's a particularly emotional or personal album I'll listen to it alone and I'll try to put myself in the headspace the album seems to be trying to convey, aiming for maximum impact, but I don't think approach #1 is an entirely poor approach. A lot of music, if not most music, is made in a competitive mindset, a lot of music is designed as a product with a standard in mind. The message is still there, but if the artist wishes to convey that message most effectively to as many people as possible they must be aware of existing standards and aim for reaching them. Quality playing, quality production (and suitable production), and quality writing. If there are standards that artists aim for when writing music, I think it's fair for fans to let the artist know how closely they are reaching those standards. That's why artists often ask for feedback on more than emotional impact. It's competition and the never ending strive for skill and quality that has produced the legends in music, the Duke Ellingtons and Willie Dixons and Jimi Hendrixs and The Whos and Queens. The emotion is still very much there, but competition often fuels passion, critics keep the game heated, and heat keeps the emotion brewing.

Where are parts 1 and 2?

Matt took them with him when he was banned.

Aww :(