perception of art/music

thought you guys would find this interesting

PERCEPTION

. . . Something To Think About . . .

THE SITUATION

In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in

2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45

minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through

the station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3

minutes, a middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing.

He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried

on to meet his schedule.

About 4 minutes later:

The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the

hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

At 6 minutes:

A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at

his watch and started to walk again.

At 10 minutes:

A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.

The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed

hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole

time. This action was repeated by several other children, but every

parent - without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.

At 45 minutes:

The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened

for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their

normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

After 1 hour:

He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one

applauded. There was no recognitionat all.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the

greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate

pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two

days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theater in Boston where the seats

averaged $200 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C.

Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a

social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.

This experiment raised several questions:

*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we

perceive beauty?

*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?

*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best

musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written,

with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

peace.

I remember reading this article, I believe there were video clips accompanying it. Pretty interesting. I'd like to think that I would have stopped and listened, but I tend to anyway with street musicians if they are any good.

i just wrote almost exactly this...

  On 1/6/2012 at 6:25 PM, patternoverlap said:

Pretty interesting. I'd like to think that I would have stopped and listened,

  On 1/6/2012 at 6:21 PM, yikes said:

If stressed washington dc commuters do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best

musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written,

with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

 

How many other things are they missing as they rush through life?

I took offense at the original wording of this paragraph and had to fix it. Not everyone moves at the same pace. They also chose one of the most fitting places in the world to conduct an experiment like this if you like really depressing results. Public/crowded places in general tend to mess with peoples heads/bring out the worst.

Also, how is it any surprising that people don't get classical music these days? Maybe put skrillex in there next time?

time did not stand still, as the slaves were rushing to work

bah, I remember reading this article in the Washington Post. Rather predictable outcome that proves absolutely nothing IMO.

Hmm let me go play music in the metro station and try to make some social statement because random people on the street don't appreciate my violining as much as the rich bastards who actively seek out and pay $200 for a concert. I guess all of us Washington DC folks are just culturally illiterate or something for not appreciating such a acclaimed musician playing music worthy of the gods for us peasant folk.

Seriously though, don't expect to have devoted listeners in a crowded metro station where everyone is on a schedule.

P.S. I Like the guy drumming on paint buckets better anyways, he doesn't participate in whiny Washington Post articles when his audience turns out to be smaller than he would have liked.

P.P.S. Not hating on violins, just violinists.

Yea I remember this article. Though I think the setting of the experiment creates a biased picture. I wonder what the results would have been had he done it during the weekend.

Interesting, but no groundbreaking news here. Today, you need to make things explode to get attention.

I would assume not many people stopped because they had somewhere to be. Since the whole point to public transportation is you're going somewhere...

  On 1/6/2012 at 9:17 PM, Braintree said:

I would assume not many people stopped because they had somewhere to be. Since the whole point to public transportation is you're going somewhere...

You can stop and listen to someone of whom would appear just like any other busker but at the end of the day you've got a train to get on/places to be......... you don't go to a train station to sit down and appreciate good music, you go there because its a means of transport....

I think it would be more appropriate to place him in a Public park, during summer.... when people are out in public spaces sitting on the grass/benches chilling, THEN I think he'd draw a better crowd ;)

Still, if it was Paris Hilton playing, people would stop and suddenly only this happening would be important.

I'm telling you, people just aren't moved by things like art, at least not the majority.

  On 1/6/2012 at 10:01 PM, gaarg said:

Still, if it was Paris Hilton playing, people would stop and suddenly only this happening would be important.

 

I'm telling you, people just aren't moved by things like art, at least not the majority.

altought the context of such experiment is just ridiculous, i find this to be true.

some people might be curious, few others are moved by art, but the majority just isn't, or can't, for some reason.