Artists Versus Artistes

 

Be Arty

 

As a general observation, there seem to be fewer musicians who are actually Artists in the “arty” sense of the word (A musician who would be like a Jasper Johns for example). In the 1980s, musicians became more like athletes trying to play as fast as possible. Sixteenth notes at fast tempos were all the rage (and still are on YouTube). Eddie Van Halen’s technique was more favored than artiste-y guitar playing, i.e. playing parts that supported the song that perhaps had a unique effects vibe. The 60s and 70s were more about art in an “enlightenment” way. The Beatles were “enlightenment” artists in the sense that there was a broader interest in the arts in general, especially McCartney and his interest in ‘pataphysics.             

It’s not that musicians don’t want to be artists; I think they’re afraid of being an artiste or exploring the avant-garde because it might feel like a weaker position. The musicians who decide that they want to do things that are more arty are actually more brave. Take someone like Peter Gabriel who was always an arty (and activist) musician, but the So album was a bit more “athletic” because at that time music became more of a competitive sport. He’s definitely an artiste but that type of musical artist is now in the minority. He’s in some ways a kindred spirit of Brian Eno who is the quintessential musical artiste (an admitted non-musician), but not without criticism, even in his heyday. New Wave guitar virtuoso Lydia Lunch used to say that Eno’s ambient music was “like drinking a glass of water. It means nothing, but it’s very smooth going down.” His way of working is accepted as just being his unique thing. U2 obviously embraced it—but not unanimously as a band.    

Excerpt Library (Music I): “What did Lydia Lunch say about Brian Eno?” 
        
I think in the future there’s going to be fewer and fewer musicians who want to be Artistes, but there could be an overlap between music, visual art, and sports/athletics/dance/kinetics and new technologies, especially fake AI artists who could easily be huge Artistes. But the cleverness and cunning have to be there as well, which AI may or not do (well). Think Duchamp a century ago and how that modernism gave birth to postmodern art, and perhaps now on to metamodernism. Or John Cage: Will the Artistes of the 21st century even know who he is, and more importantly, be influenced by his philosophy of art? In the practical sense, it’s difficult to steer a piece of work in an arty direction. I often have to stop and consider it when I’m in left-hemisphere mode just trying to focus on plunking out the notes on a bass. If music is a form of “painting” am I reminding myself of that metaphor often enough—and going into right-brain exploratory mode and investigating other things? In his memoir, Geddy Lee talks about his various other interests: photography, architecture, cinema, and books about cinema:            

“Well into my thirties, movies and books about movies fed my brain. It was a largely solitary preoccupation, as only a couple of my friends had the same degree of interest or patience for old black-and-white films, especially ones with subtitles, but no matter; it’s not necessarily a group sport. Film became a gateway drug for me, leading to a range of other visual arts disciplines, especially photography, which would seep into our live shows as I became more involved in the designs for our rear-screen projections; increasingly, I’d come to think of our shows as a mixed media experience rather than simply a musical event. I’d take a harder look at animation and graphic design, which led to an interest in architecture.”            

Neil Peart of course had similar eclectic interests. Alex Lifeson sketched and painted as well, but a rift formed when Geddy started using synths and other electronics on the Power Windows album. (It’s always about power to the left/west hemisphere isn’t it?). Richie Blackmore was always more artiste and was perhaps shunned for it. He’s now doing minstrel-esque music with his wife which I kind of admire. As he softens with age, you can open up more to being arty and perhaps sentimental, or metamodernist. When you compare the 1970s Geddy Lee to what comes across in the memoir, he’s really an arty guy. I can see him doing something more avant-garde, but his loyalty to fans might be a permanent bond. Real art might require a greater ability to go it alone and to become more activist as a result. (Eric Fromm often talked about its importance as an artist).     

12/21/2023