-----Original Message-----
From: andrei@world.std.com [mailto:andrei@world.std.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2000 2:48 PM
To: idm@hyperreal.org
Subject: Re: [idm] art by assholes - Miles Davis and drugs
"Gause, Brian" wrote:
quoted 3 lines As for drugs 'wasting' talent...you just can't get away with saying that> As for drugs 'wasting' talent...you just can't get away with saying that
> Miles' talent was wasted with alcohol. First of all, it was his talent to
> waste, so it's not your business.
Whateva...
quoted 1 line Second of all, have you heard "Kind of Blue"? What more do you want?> Second of all, have you heard "Kind of Blue"? What more do you want?
About a million fucking times, so what (no pun intended) ?
Is that supposed to show me the amazing effects addiction can have on the
creative
act ? I think Miles had actually kicked his heroin habit a few years prior
to making
"Kind Of Blue". Miles made lots of other amazing albums and who knows what
sort of
mental/health state he was in when he recorded them. Listen to Blue Haze if
you wanna
hear Miles dealing with addiction.
******************
Actually, I wasn't talking about addiction. I was talking about your
condemnation of Miles' art (and art, in general) as "wasted" because of
drugs. My point is that Kind of Blue is brilliant...no sign of waste
anywhere in sight. That's what.
******************
I was watching an interview with "jazz legend" and ex-drug consumer Lee
Konitz
recently and he was saying that music created under the influence needs to
be
listened to under the influence for it to sound as good as it did while you
were
creating it and that it usually sounds terrible when you listen back to it
and you're
not stoned.
*****************
This is plainly not true. Beethoven was deaf when he wrote his 9th
Symphony...does this mean we have to be deaf for it to sound as good? Does
the 9th Symphony then sound "terrible" to those of us that can hear?
And if you want more examples, try Pink Floyd, the Beatles, the Stones,
Hendrix, Bowie, Eno, damn, how many should I name?
And if you want to talk about the affects of drugs, you have to include
nicotine...caffeine...alcohol...so how about all those musicians who
composed music while drunk? Do we have to be drunk to appreciate the genius
there? What about musicians who smoke? What about internal chemical
conditions? Do I have to have epileptic seizures to appreciate The Brothers
Karamazov?
The effect of external chemicals on the brain is not absolute. Some people
get drunk on one beer, some people need a six-pack. Some tried pot and were
never affected, others never inhaled and still run the country like a
stoned-out wanker. You can't simply offer a sweeping generalization like
'drugs are bad' and expect it to stand up like this. Different chemicals
change the electrochemical reaction system within your brain in different
ways. This can have strange and crazy effects, some good, some bad, some
interesting, some meaningless...many people aren't going to EVER create
something as cohesive as Dark Side of the Moon, drunk, stoned or
sober...some people are never going to understand it as it was
intended...but you can't ignore the fact that some people can reach
interesting insights and create meaningful symbology (whether written,
musical or visual) when their brain chemistry changes. And there will always
be someone (one, one hundred or one million someones) who find that
personally meaningful.
I mean no offense here, but it seems startling to me that you (and millions
of other people) continue to argue against the use of substances with ZERO
first-hand experience. If you've never taken a drink in your life, how can
you know anything about what it feels like? If you've never been to Mars,
should we really listen to you as an expert on the effects of the martian
landscape on your vision of the world? Think again.
****************
quoted 1 line When you begin to think of the world in terms of quantity, rather than> When you begin to think of the world in terms of quantity, rather than
quality, you
quoted 3 lines miss the genius of individual moments in time.> miss the genius of individual moments in time.
> I still don't understand how people can continue to look at the world like
> this, passing judgment from the superior knowledge of hindsight as if
these
quoted 1 line matters were completely obvious all along. For those of you who believe> matters were completely obvious all along. For those of you who believe
the
quoted 1 line world is black and white, take a moment to consider that not everyone> world is black and white, take a moment to consider that not everyone
agrees
quoted 1 line with you. The world isn't as simple as it seems...especially from the> with you. The world isn't as simple as it seems...especially from the
outside.
You have much insight, wise one.
Andrei
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org