The Five Strands of A Sedentary Empress

A Taste On The Tongue

After thinking about the art thing for the last day or so, it occurred to me that the art I truly don't like/understand the point of is conceptual art. 'Modern' art is too broad a term, and refers to specific movements in the past that are so vast and diverse that it would be impossible to say that I don't like the entire movement outright. I have purchased a stained glass piece that had a Chagall reproduction inside from a museum store. I gave it to my friend K. as a wedding gift, because it was called 'The Wedding', and in it were a bride and groom, with a big rooster (cock) behind them. It was an orgy of colour, with a cock that symbolized fertility, and I thought it was beautiful and interesting but when K. opened it, I could plainly see that she was confused by it. She thanked me profusely, but I'm pretty sure her mind was repeating 'what the hell?'. It hangs in her kitchen window to this day, but I'm still not certain she likes it. I made a note to myself to never buy anything 'arty' for a gift again. Art is personal. Art is the taste on a tongue.

When A. and I were talking yesterday, she continually mentioned how her sons were 'music snobs'. She was proud of it, you could tell, because I heard her satisfied smile through the phone line. I think it's natural, to be happy when your child seems to be different than the herd in a good way. It's a good thing when they go for the obscure music, because it makes them seem smart and superior, somehow, and I'll admit to finding it adorable when my wee one rocks out to Queen or Tchaikovsky because she's too young to have any idea about image. I laughed when A. said this and she asked why. I told her that I find music snobbery to be completely pointless, and this is why. Most people I know who are pretentious when it comes to their musical taste are people who have a disdain for liking what other people like. It's not about the music entirely, but is also about ensuring that they maintain a distance from the crowd. Great pains are taken to make sure they know what's happening anywhere but on the top 40, because they have the reputation of a music czar to protect. She mentioned that her son M. is totally beyond Led Zeppelin, that he smirks at it now when his father plays it, even though he worshipped them two years ago. You see, to me, that isn't just snobbery, it's dumb. The fact that he played it over and over until he got sick of it doesn't mean the music isn't good. It means he gorged on it until he got full. I would not want the opinion of someone who gets bored so easily when it comes to listening to music because it discounts their ability to understand what they're hearing. Take 'I Kissed A Girl' by Katy Perry, for instance. I want to hate it, for lots of reasons, but damn if my body doesn't start moving every time that song is played around me. In the ice-cream shop by the lake, in the store where I bought the book I'm reading, in the car idling next to mine at a red light...I move, and I unconsciously respond to it. Is it a 'good' song? Well, 'good' is always a grey area when it comes to music, right? The thing is, though, that my body likes it, even if my brain thinks the content is mundane and a little silly. I am not going to pretend that I am above it because it doesn't matter. You like what you like but working to build an image about what one likes amounts to a lot of wasted time and heaping helping of overblown self-importance. There's nothing wrong with being someone who genuinely abhors pop music, or the pre-packaged pop tart nonsense we get these days from airbrushed corporate products. That kind of music isn't the kind you take home to mother. What you look to build a solid relationship with is the music that speaks to your body and your soul in a language your mind cannot. It could be anything, anyone, but only you know when you feel it.

Lately, I look for the poetry in music. I find it all the time, but more often than not, I find it in older work. That's a little sad, but I'm really hoping that this time of economic and political unrest will bring about a new wave in music, one in which people actually write their own words and that those words mean something. Suffering tends to bring the best out of music, no? I seem to gravitate toward the angry stuff, but it's not intentional. I like people who sing to make a point, or to challenge something they don't believe in. I like it hard, or I like it pretty, but I never like it sweet.

That's just me.

The best thing about any form of art is that it's never right or wrong. It's situational, personal, illusory, introspective and discretionary. It's personality, wit, intelligence, heart and mental glitches in print, paint and sound. We taste it, we swallow, we sometimes go back for more.