Two Horizons is the name of an exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery Of Modern Art that I went to recently, but my topicality is lacking again because I notice it has just ended. No matter: I went so that you don’t have to, and I’m eager to share my thoughts – but that’s probably only because it gives me the chance to have a rant about conceptual art.
Taken from a private collection of fairly new art, it was a mixed bunch. I enjoyed a few of the pieces (but, let’s face it, good reviews are boring, so feel free to skip a few paragraphs.) Marc Camille Chaimowicz’s Man Looking out of a Window and Arch together were fascinating. The … read on »
Archive for the ‘aesthetics’ category…
Saxophones and Photographs
I have two reasons for the recent lack of blog action, and I mention them because they’re quite interesting (though I feel that neither will counteract the suspicion that if one takes four months off from work then one has time to write blog posts pretty frequently): I was preparing for my saxophone grade three jazz exam; and I’ve become addicted to Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/alistairrobinson/)
Last time I mentioned the sax exam in these pages, I had just committed to do it. I said at the time that I had opted to play All Blues, Autumn Leaves and Mopti, but I decided not long after to forget about Autumn Leaves and play Lady Be Good instead. It was a good mixture of … read on »
Roger Scruton on Conceptual Art & JAR on Music
Last September, I had a debate with Brian Rowan in the comments of one of my blog posts. The debate was about music: whether you can say, for example, that Stravinsky is better than James Blunt. I said yes, you can, and Brian said no, you can’t. Well, I saw this article in the American Spectator a few days ago, by Roger Scruton, an interesting thinker who has appeared on this blog twice before. It’s mainly about visual art rather than music, but I believe the argument stands for any kind of art. He says it so much better than I do. Here’s an excerpt:
Increasingly, many teachers of the humanities agree with the untutored opinion of their incoming students, that … read on »
Ben Vane Winter Walk
I was a bit worried about how I’d manage on the mountain yesterday, considering that:
I’d hardly exercised at all since September (our last mountain walk);
I now had not one but two dodgy knees;
I had a cold;
I was feeling pretty run-down from all the commuting and staying up late;
It was February and I had no ice axe or crampons.
But I needn’t have worried: although it was hard-going (it always is) there was no doubt that I’d make it safely to the top, and there was barely any snow around – I was forgetting about how relatively mild it’s been this winter. In fact it was warm enough to strip down to my shirt, and it was only the cold wind at … read on »
The Architecture of Antoni Gaudi
“For the first time since I had been in Barcelona I went to look at the cathedral – a modern cathedral, and one of the most hideous buildings in the world. It has four crenellated spires exactly the shape of hock bottles. Unlike most of the churches in Barcelona, it was not damaged during the Revolution–it was spared because of its ‘Artistic value’, people said. I think the anarchists showed bad taste in not blowing it up when they had the chance….”
That’s George Orwell, in Homage to Catalonia, writing about El Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Familia (The Expiatory Temple of the Holy Family). It is, contrary to what Orwell says, not a cathedral: it’s a Catholic Christian temple built … read on »
Musical Snobbery?
The other night we interviewed a prospective flatmate with the help of a good friend of Laura’s, the lovely Kris, an Australian nutritional expert. Our interviewee was Australian himself and fresh off the boat, so perhaps Kris’s Oz-related small-talk put him at his ease. So this guy Daniel – despite having an irrational fear of elevators – turned out to be a great guy, into experimental music from the rock and modern orchestral worlds (though not jazz). In particular we talked about Iannis Xenakis‘s Persepolis, a stunning, tectonic piece of work that can barely be described as music at all. Daniel was the first (and last?) person I’ve met who knows about it and so I was delighted to be … read on »
Sunshine on Leith and the Hill of The Veil
Yesterday Stu and I climbed the peaks comprising the Beinn a’Ghlo massif (three munros and a top). Quite a feat for us and so satisfying, because it didn’t defeat us as Bidean Nam Bian did.
I’ve realised that whatever else happens, walking in the mountains with Stu every few weeks is a constant. Between the last one and yesterday’s walk I have broken up with my girlfriend of seven years, moved to a new home, and started a new job. But the walk was the same as always. That might sound dull, but it’s not that we always talk about the same things, or that we’re not changing as the years go by; it’s that we can talk about those different … read on »
Delight in the Wonder of Air Sculpture
Music often seems to come laden with baggage. Fashion, genre, attitude – what do they have to do with the pure power of organized sound? Why are jazz, orchestral, folk and experimental music dismissed by so many as eccentric, weird and uncool? It’s rather depressing, because the answer is that music is not part of education, unless you’re lucky, and that’s why music is not often part of family life. So there’s no easy solution.
What a lamentable state of affairs! It explains why the concert by Markus Stockhausen and Tara Bouman at St. Giles Cathedral – part of the Sonic Fusion festival – was attended by just a few students and musicians probably involved with the festival, as well … read on »
For Leonhard: Why Climb Mountains?
In his little piece Mountaineering as a Life Style Danish mountaineer Jan Elleby answers the question why climb mountains? with this:
Curiously enough this question is only posed by people, who have not climbed any mountains themselves. For if you by yourself have experienced the adventures and quality in life that mountaneering may offer you, then you would never be asking this question.
This is unimaginative, clichéd rhetoric. The question has become more gripping for me since I started doing it, which disproves his argument. If there is a rule at all, it’s not this:
But this:
Get Out Yer Horn
Had my first ever saxophone lesson today. It’s about time, seeing as how I’ve had the sax for something approaching 10 years. I have never stuck at practise for very long, and have forgotten most of what little I learned on those occasions, so lessons are the obvious solution, mainly for structuring, disciplining and motivating my practice.
The teacher is John Burgess, a local musician who has toured the world and recorded acclaimed albums. He was frenetic. I always find it slightly frustrating trying to talk to people who are obviously impatient, but if you’ve only got half an hour it’s bound to feel rushed: I think he’s an excellent teacher and we’re on the same wavelength on a few things. … read on »
©2010 Alistair Robinson