http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0714529419/o/qid=968955931/sr=8-1/ref
=aps_sr_b_1_3/002-3571947-8192003
For those of you really curious about the role of drugs and disease in art,
go read this book...brilliant stuff. Even an appendix with a list of
composers, artists, writers, etc., listed by affliction/addiction. The list
is more comprehensive than you think...
Essentially, what most of history considers great art (whether it be
picasso, dostoevsky, nietzsche or beethoven) comes from a place that isn't
like everyday reality. Sometimes your brain just works differently and, in
many ways, has the ability to create what so-called 'ordinary' people cannot
see/hear/envision.
It's true that you don't need drugs or disease to create beautiful things
(whether they be books, music or paintings), but given the wealth of
history, it's undeniable that both addiction and affliction can have massive
creative side effects.
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. Second of all, have you heard "Kind of
Blue"? What more do you want? When you begin to think of the world in terms
of quantity, rather than quality, you 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
matters were completely obvious all along. For those of you who believe the
world is black and white, take a moment to consider that not everyone agrees
with you. The world isn't as simple as it seems...especially from the
outside.
---brian
------------------------
Brian W. Gause
Senior Technical Writer
SECTORBASE.com
568 Howard Street
First Floor
San Francisco, CA 94105
Direct: (415) 365-8203
Fax: (415) 365-8263
-----Original Message-----
From: andrei@world.std.com [mailto:andrei@world.std.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 14, 2000 11:17 AM
To: idm@hyperreal.org
Subject: Re: [idm] art by assholes - Miles Davis and drugs
Ian Pojman wrote:
quoted 2 lines this may not really be quite pertinent, but I'd like to remind
> this may not really be quite pertinent, but I'd like to remind
> everyone that Mozart died cause he was a massive alcoholic...
I thought he died of tuberculosis (or maybe I should say of "consumption")
or one of
those 18th century type illnesses.
quoted 1 line Look what drugs have done for music, and appreciate it.
> Look what drugs have done for music, and appreciate it.
Yeah, you _should_ look at what drugs have done for music and look at all
the wasted
talent throughout history. Sure drugs can have certain effects on the
creation of
music (not speaking from personal experience), but artists compose amazing
music
because they're extremely talented, not because they were stoned or drunk
while
composing.
And I think it's funny that some of the most zonked out music I know was
composed by
some pretty square people like all those post-WWII composers and people
working at
INA-GRM and what have you. That stuff sounds a lot more fucked up to me than
any
psychedelic nonsense I've heard. Check out Heinz Holliger's
"Scardanelli-Zyklus",
which deals with poet Friedrich Holderlin's descent into madness, if you
wanna hear
some real unearthly music. And if you see a picture of Holliger you'll see
what a
damn nerd he is.
Andrei
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