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
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I wanna be the first Alana...and I wanna tell yuh I love the way you write. I have to digest your blog a bit more then I'll get back to you
ReplyDeleteI believe we are fortunate to be able to have the creative freedom we have, Alana. Is anyone really dictating what pours out of you...I would hope not. I used to "write to order" for a living, and tried to tailor my own private thoughts to fit certain industry demographics. It didn't work, and thank God for that.
ReplyDeleteI would sugest you are on the right track to create your own audience. Just do what you do and get it out there, and let the people decide. If you can even keep bread and milk on the table, it's a grand life.
As far as the music machine goes, it is as relevant as haute couture, and in it's death throes as true artists continue to reject it. It is geared to children, selling lifestyle and shallow visions of success.
I think of Jann, who has developed an incredible fan base singing her melancholy reflections on the human experience, all the while laughing at the human condition. She puts in the work without selling off anything...and the people have spoken. She is revered, not for her fashion sense, or her pole dancing, but for being a singular personality and talent.
I wish you well, Alana, and trust that God will guide you in lifelong exploration of the world and your place in it.
Beautiful post Alana. A friend led me to your blog. Keep writing :)
ReplyDeleteHere are a bunch of my thoughts:
ReplyDeleteAbout going local with our music: I wonder if these days music is taken for granted. It seems that some people live there life to a continuous soundtrack from there Ipod. Because of this they seem to miss out on so many things. They miss the crazies on the bus, they don't talk to there neighbors or sometimes even there families and coworker. Music becomes another consumable. We just want more and more. Quality does not mater because we are going to get tired of it anyway. I wonder what would happen if music became special again, something we went to see live or that we even played for each other in our living rooms. Maybe if pre recorded music was less available more of us would pick up the guitar and learn to play? It seems to me that just as getting to know the farmers who grow your food creates a healthy community, so would bringing music closer to home.
Don't dis Haute Couture! Art is art and it is always relevant! It is very hard to describe what art is, but I think we all have to be careful not to criticize forms of art just because we are not familiar with them. Fashion is more than trying to be as slutty as possible. Fashion is more than sex symbols. Looking through the history of fashion, both high and low, one can see that it just reflects exactly where and who we are.
Creativity: When I look through Fashion magazines with some people they look at the weirdest and wackiest things and question why anyone would ever design something like that, "Can't they tell that it doesn't work?" they ask. What these people are forgetting is the whole history of art. In order to progress from one style to something completely new and wonderful people have to step outside the box and risk it "working" or not. Does anyone really think that the first impressionist paining was just welcomed with open arms. I know that at the beginning of the 20th Century Artists like Egon Schiele and Gustav Klimt had a very hard time gaining critical success and now there is no question about there talent and the beauty of there work. We should celebrate artists who have the guts to explore new things even if we do not find them pleasing now.
Thanks Alana for getting my mind moving.
"I wonder about all the creative ideas ever thought up by people who are too embarrassed to be creative."
ReplyDeleteI ALWAYS have this thought... all those words, thoughts, expressions potentially locked up never to find the light of day. I WORRY. I worry that Science and Commerce take over. I worry that Arts and Humanities are marginalised. I worry for a generation unable to express themselves or understand where they come from.
It took me until I reached the age of 30 to even realise that I could express myself, to find a platform for my expression. Now I feel frustrated that this isn't enough, though I KNOW my heart lies in creativity. So I surround myself in the creativity of others, and find inspiration.
What role does accessibility to technology play? Does it make drowning in a corporate world more inevitable, or does it empower the individual?
I'd like to think the future is in the power of the individual to create, for other individuals to discover. Spin is temporary. Genius is permanent.
I am a lover of impractical beauty myself. I was a Vogue subscriber until they started with articles like "Female Viagra? " :)
ReplyDeleteMike- I think the whole accessibility thing is what it is and there is hope for the future.
In terms of Science and Commerce taking over... well, I lean toward what Science and Commerce would look like if the people playing in these fields were allowed to wonder. Jeffery Sachs is a wonderer. I know scientists who have great imaginations. But I've also met people who's bottom line looks like hell and scientists who seem to think that being a pragmatist is compulsory.
Maybe if each field was injected with a greater sense of wonder, we wouldn't be so separated. See, I don't want it to be an "us" and "them". And for the life of me I cannot quite comprehend how an astrophysicist I met once was completely mundane and pragmatic in his way of being. That and he was entirely filled with pomposity (as bad as any rock star I've met!). It was as though his great big brain left him no available space for... WONDER. And this is someone who gets paid to think about fractals and black holes!
I wish the little scientists in grade three right now were encouraged to mature their imaginations along with the rest of it. I wish artists could see how fascinating science can be. Time. Space. Biology. Chemistry. I even find soil erosion completely fascinating!
Maybe a little bit of wonder would give us an equal staging point. Some common ground. We could use our imaginations to understand and care about each other's story.
My guess is, a big brained scientist could use some community theatre in his life... a place where he/she is out of their element... and an expressive actor had better accept them because what is an actor if not someone who empathizes so much that they ought to be able to play the role of a big brained scientist without judgement?
cheers everyone and big thanks for responding.
alana
I really like the sound of your world of wonder!
ReplyDelete