A friend of mine texted me last night saying "I'm watching the opening ceremonies, are you proud of Canada right now? There are tap dancers wearing flannel!" I actually wasn't watching the Olympics, I was watching the film Shadowlands with Anthony Hopkins and Debra Winger. Not out of some real conscious choice to avoid the festivities taking place in Vancouver, but because I was in a contemplative mood and wanted to eat dark chocolate and watch an unorthodox love story.
I know there are many opinions about the Olympics and how much they cost and what we could be doing with the money instead. Particularly in Canada right now there are mixed feelings. Many working class folks, who lean toward a more western-styled working class socialism, don't appreciate the Canadian government subsidizing such a commercial endeavor.
Since the Olympics in Beijing there has been a more obvious political overtone to the Olympics. Many folks thought, if other countries have to be held to account to play around in the global market why wasn't this one?
I can see the point to this. And I do wonder what a grassroots formula would look like within the sports world. But I also have to say this: as a child, I remember particularly anticipating the Winter Olympics almost as though Christmas was coming. I remember weeping as I saw the flags of so many countries coming together under one roof. Or the times when very poor athletes from oppressed countries became champions and contradicted the odds that money always wins gold. I remember how human the faces of these young competitors looked as they expressed how they knew they could have done better, or knew without a doubt that they had done their best. Two stories that particularly stand out are the stories of Elizabeth Manley and Oksana Baiul.
I think the Olympics could be likened very much to Christmas in the sense that: there is a whole lot of hullabaloo, maximizing of credit cards, and vast commercialism that does not feed the hungry by any stretch, in ratio to it's gain. But I also wonder, if what we can take from this tradition is remembering that its okay to celebrate and be together. I guess what I mean is, I certainly wish that most of the folks (I say most, because there are some charities in place) benefiting from the enterprising agendas of the Olympics could be aware that hungry bellies don't disappear just because the world is watching television for two weeks. But I can also think of other things with less texture and meaning that big money gets spent on.
Perhaps the Olympics and Christmas should not only be considering their carbon footprint but also their human footprint.
How do we go about doing this?
So as I said, I didn't boycott the Opening Ceremonies last night. But I didn't watch them either. I instead watched a movie about a British man who was a great thinker and maker of fantasy who fell in love late in life to the most unlikely person. A divorced woman from America who had a young son. He married her before God at her sick bed as she struggled in her fight against cancer. And as the illness went into remission they had a few years of what he would have called 'eros' before... or 'romantic love'. But he soon learned that love isn't so easily put into categories and that it is a great mystery. It is something that reflects the great beyond.
His wife Joy said "The pain then is a part of the happiness now. And that's the deal."
So I think, perhaps our choices here matter. That there should be a collective consciousness surrounding the Olympics that holds the world and it's choices to account. I also know that we have to change what we demand in order for the supply to change. Maybe we have to have a change of heart, like Joy's lover Jack, and embrace the mystery of love, to get there.
And maybe, rather than being cynical and angry (or oblivious), we might be able to watch the stories of these athletes (how does one decide "I'm going into competitive skiing?"), and learn something about ourselves. The flushed, young faces of determination. The flags coming together under one roof. Yes, each flag represents something imperfect, corrupt and not what it could be... but they also represent unique customs, flavours and wonder.
Maybe these flags represent us?
As we have our own little gatherings, at a community hall, church, temple, mosque, solstice party, family gathering and so many other ways we spend time around others, perhaps we should prepare to bring humility with us and not a self-righteous "I am so much more aware of injustice than that person" attitude... to acknowledge our own imperfections and corruption, but also what wonderful colour we each bring to the table.
much love,
alana
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Does Creativity belong in the Music Industry?
I have been wondering lately.
What does it mean to wonder? Astonishment or interest in something mysterious, perhaps.
Why do you suppose we are discouraged to wonder as we get older? Why are our imaginations not cultivated within the academy or within our jobs?
When I think about what I alone am capable of and do not accomplish because I'm probably using only .5% of my creative capacity, I wonder about folks who were made to feel small or unimportant in school because they didn't fit into the round hole. I was not made to feel like I didn't fit. I was made to feel like I am who I am.
I wonder about all the creative ideas ever thought up by people who are too embarrassed to be creative.
Even our system of productivity within the music industry or film industry is constructed around particular unimaginative formulas. And the folks who were around for the other reforms in the industry seem not as open these days to new reform. And of course, why would they be? Tenure exists in all forms of businesses and institutions. A person who has devoted 30 years of their life to climbing the corporate ladder within a particular mechanical format and gets to the top, does not want to move from there until he is good and ready.
I'm not trying to be political here. Though maybe I ought to be.
I feel sometimes that the template in which I have to squeeze into as an artist is so narrow I can't breathe... like the way one must conform in school, to look good on paper. I have to watch what I eat because I haven't been branded as someone who "wears her weight proudly". I'm luckier than others in this area because I'm naturally little. But do you have any idea how hard some women work to keep up their image in this business? Young women are so overworked that they are collapsing on stage, and we look at this as a sign of their tenacity? Its almost as though the declaration of human rights wasn't written for touring musicians (or anyone who tours/works with them). There's either no minimum wage or no time to recreate.
Perhaps I'm naive but in our insatiable need to make everything okay and not bad within broader culture, it seems we are given no room in music to say anything against the fact that a) workaholism is the highest virtue b) endorsing new artists as sex objects (many times to the point of degradation) is one of the last ways to sell new music in the old way of selling it c) trying to be creative about new ways of selling music is generally seen as terrorism because it threatens the equilibrium of those in power (who live a contradictory existence: because they're nostalgic about political music/music to promote change, but also don't attempt to sell it, if it comes along, because it might actually produce change.)
Neil Young is allowed to make and sell good, insightful and sometimes highly political music because Neil Young comes with a financial guarantee. I'd love to see him develop in today's climate.
Don't get me wrong... I LOVE Neil Young.
But... I wonder. Perhaps if Wonder were introduced into our industries and schools, and the windows were opened, so some fresh air was allowed to blow through the old institutional rooms of dog eat dog, kill or be killed, there may be a chance for us little people to lead productive, balanced lives and to do what we do best, which is to creatively serve each other in the way that makes us... us.
Is there hope for the little artist? Indie is, I suppose, a dull/old/prosaic word these days. What about the word "little"? The little creeks that work so hard at flowing to feed the lake, to serve how they were born to be... and have to survive somehow within an industry of bottom lines and financial inconsistencies.
I almost wonder if we ought to start considering where our music comes from these days... the way we consider where our food comes from. Chastise me if you want to... and I could be contradicting myself... but what if the music industry was held to account the way the food industry is? We ask questions like: Where does our food come from? How did it get here? Who profits from this food? What is the nutritional value of this food? I'm not being anti-capitalist here... on the contrary... I think a good capitalism ought to ask these questions.
This is an idealism of course. But it is something to wonder about, isn't it?
I am going to be presenting my little circle of influence with a very grassroots campaign to promote my music very soon and I hope to have some helpers along the way. Because as the old adage in the" award acceptance speech" goes... I can't do it without you. And I think we're getting to the point where that is actually true. I believe you will see that the more we embrace wonder and allow for new life, the more you, the listener, will have the MOST important role to play in how music is heard.
Let me know what you think! I welcome the thunder and the sunshine!
Much love,
Alana Levandoski, lover of story and song
What does it mean to wonder? Astonishment or interest in something mysterious, perhaps.
Why do you suppose we are discouraged to wonder as we get older? Why are our imaginations not cultivated within the academy or within our jobs?
When I think about what I alone am capable of and do not accomplish because I'm probably using only .5% of my creative capacity, I wonder about folks who were made to feel small or unimportant in school because they didn't fit into the round hole. I was not made to feel like I didn't fit. I was made to feel like I am who I am.
I wonder about all the creative ideas ever thought up by people who are too embarrassed to be creative.
Even our system of productivity within the music industry or film industry is constructed around particular unimaginative formulas. And the folks who were around for the other reforms in the industry seem not as open these days to new reform. And of course, why would they be? Tenure exists in all forms of businesses and institutions. A person who has devoted 30 years of their life to climbing the corporate ladder within a particular mechanical format and gets to the top, does not want to move from there until he is good and ready.
I'm not trying to be political here. Though maybe I ought to be.
I feel sometimes that the template in which I have to squeeze into as an artist is so narrow I can't breathe... like the way one must conform in school, to look good on paper. I have to watch what I eat because I haven't been branded as someone who "wears her weight proudly". I'm luckier than others in this area because I'm naturally little. But do you have any idea how hard some women work to keep up their image in this business? Young women are so overworked that they are collapsing on stage, and we look at this as a sign of their tenacity? Its almost as though the declaration of human rights wasn't written for touring musicians (or anyone who tours/works with them). There's either no minimum wage or no time to recreate.
Perhaps I'm naive but in our insatiable need to make everything okay and not bad within broader culture, it seems we are given no room in music to say anything against the fact that a) workaholism is the highest virtue b) endorsing new artists as sex objects (many times to the point of degradation) is one of the last ways to sell new music in the old way of selling it c) trying to be creative about new ways of selling music is generally seen as terrorism because it threatens the equilibrium of those in power (who live a contradictory existence: because they're nostalgic about political music/music to promote change, but also don't attempt to sell it, if it comes along, because it might actually produce change.)
Neil Young is allowed to make and sell good, insightful and sometimes highly political music because Neil Young comes with a financial guarantee. I'd love to see him develop in today's climate.
Don't get me wrong... I LOVE Neil Young.
But... I wonder. Perhaps if Wonder were introduced into our industries and schools, and the windows were opened, so some fresh air was allowed to blow through the old institutional rooms of dog eat dog, kill or be killed, there may be a chance for us little people to lead productive, balanced lives and to do what we do best, which is to creatively serve each other in the way that makes us... us.
Is there hope for the little artist? Indie is, I suppose, a dull/old/prosaic word these days. What about the word "little"? The little creeks that work so hard at flowing to feed the lake, to serve how they were born to be... and have to survive somehow within an industry of bottom lines and financial inconsistencies.
I almost wonder if we ought to start considering where our music comes from these days... the way we consider where our food comes from. Chastise me if you want to... and I could be contradicting myself... but what if the music industry was held to account the way the food industry is? We ask questions like: Where does our food come from? How did it get here? Who profits from this food? What is the nutritional value of this food? I'm not being anti-capitalist here... on the contrary... I think a good capitalism ought to ask these questions.
This is an idealism of course. But it is something to wonder about, isn't it?
I am going to be presenting my little circle of influence with a very grassroots campaign to promote my music very soon and I hope to have some helpers along the way. Because as the old adage in the" award acceptance speech" goes... I can't do it without you. And I think we're getting to the point where that is actually true. I believe you will see that the more we embrace wonder and allow for new life, the more you, the listener, will have the MOST important role to play in how music is heard.
Let me know what you think! I welcome the thunder and the sunshine!
Much love,
Alana Levandoski, lover of story and song
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