I really should be studying for an exam…

… but there was just way too much to think about today.

Great concert in the black box last night, featuring Laura Tsaggaris. I can’t convey how freaking cool it is to have one of my favorite musical artists play in the black box theatre that is built into my house. Pretty sweet. Well, the upshot is, I heard a lot of beautiful , thought-provoking music, and also had a great discussion with Laura before and after the concert about our respective artistic philosophies.

Over a beer and sizzling fajitas at Don Juan’s, we talked about striking the balance between “putting yourself out there” as a performer versus creating art solely for oneself. Because yeah, as a musician or as an actor, dancer, whatever…. you are basically asking people to stare at you for a couple hours. An object – to be admired, detested, analyzed, critiqued, displayed, and commented on.

On the other hand, if what is created is not personal and designed solely for consumption by others, it fails to be genuine; the beauty of art yields to the packaged superficiality of entertainment.  True art, of any medium, must come from within and convey an element of the artist’s own humanity. Yet, taken to the extreme, too much focus on the self in art can make it selfish, incomprehensible, or irrelevant.

I believe that the arts have a duty, a service to perform; to make all of us as human beings reflect on our shared humanity – to provide an insight into the human condition.

Genuine reflection on, and emotional connection to, the soul of humanity requires a personal approach. The art must be honestly motivated from within, or it will fall flat. But in addition, the completion of the art is knowing that it is appreciated and absorbed. The apprehension of a work of art’s effect on one’s fellow human being.  Beyond the in-the-moment joy of creating art, I think that the realization, or even just the hope, that the art has brought someone somewhere to a greater understanding of themselves or others is the true return.

Is that a utilitarian view?  To measure a work of art’s worth by the effect it has on our fellow human being? Because the arts are an expression of who we are as humans, this argument then becomes dangerously parallel to stating that the value of a person is tied to the value of that person to society. In the same manner that we must accept a fundamental, if unquantifiable, worth of every person (even if we don’t like them), then must we similarly acknowledge a fundamental worth to anything that anyone calls art (even if we don’t like it)?  Unresolved questions for me.  But I’ll keep thinking about it.

Bottom line, Laura’s music really made me think. She is a musician who writes from her soul, and is willing to let us share in it, for whatever it’s worth to us. She is confident in what she means by her music, but remains open to each individual’s personal relationship with what she creates. She takes joy in seeing her work affect others positively, but holds on to creating art that comes from within.  There are musicians, and there are musical artists; it was an honor to host this example of the latter category in our black box.

Photos and a podcast with sound clips are posted on the AVT blog.

And don’t worry, I totally got some studying in as well.