As do the rivers, so must the music...
Today, in keeping with this week's music theme, I'm writing a little bit about mix tapes. It's a subject I've spent quite a bit of time thinking about over the years. There's an awful lot to think about when you get into the philosophical and aesthetic possibilities. So much so that I started putting together pamphlet on the subject, which was up to around 20 pages before I had laptop problems, and haven't been able to get to it. Someday, perhaps. I was only in chapter two, so I still had a way to go. Even so, I've been refining my theories, so when the day comes I can unleash a book on mix tapes like the world has never seen. I realize, of course, that the world has not exactly been waiting with bated breath or anything, but maybe that's simply because the definitive argument hasn't been set down yet. Ok, perhaps not.
Rather than writing about my unfinished work on the subject, though, I thought I'd explore a little my thoughts on one of the most important elements of the mix tape. The flow. Also known as the groove, the flow is right at the center of any mix tape, and I think at the center of life. What I'm talking about is something like a state of mind that manifests itself in tangible ways. In terms of the mix tape it has to do with structure and movement. There is a logical progression that you should seek to maintain. One song ends and another begins in a natural, organic way. Internalized, you seek to maintain this same fluid movement in your life.
I think a small bit of elaboration may be in order. Life is often a difficult process, and it's full of distractions, and problems that get in the way. If you always run at these and seek to overcome them with brute force you don't often make any progress, but if you allow yourself to pass by them like the river flows past rocks that disrupt it's course. That's not to say that there aren't rapids, or waterfalls, but there is an understanding that these will pass as surely as they came up. Now, in taking this principle into the realm of art you become the creator of the obstructions through which another river will flow. By your act of creation you provide the opportunity for someone else to experience something new. When you know what it is that you are attempting to do with your project you can employ obstacles to your advantage. It is clear in a novel. The use of tension and obstacles draws the reader into the story and helps them to bond with the characters they are reading about. If a book consisted of a series of uninteresting scenes where nothing ever happened it would be pointless. We read books to learn something about ourselves and the world around us. It is by representing the problems of the world in a more structured way that art can help us to understand and relate to the world and our place within it. All types of art do this. Looking at Andy Warhol's soup can we come face to face with consumerism. Watching Goodfellas we come face to face with the brutality of mob life. The mix tape, when understood, is not different.
I realize that there is a tendency to discount the mix tape as an art form, but they are innately concerned with aesthetics and composition and I have no issue including them as a form of artistic expression. I also realize that all of this looks like a tangled collection of Eastern and Western thought mixed with endless metaphor, and there's certainly a lot of truth to that. The problem is that whenever you begin to question the nature of the mix tape you must also deal with certain metaphysical issues. These are the questions that art seeks to explore, and must explore to understand art.
So where have my thoughts taken me? I spend a good amount of time looking at the transitions between songs on a mix tape. I find I prefer to make these transitions as seamless as possible, but realizing this I then seek out the dissonant. What happens if you push the boundaries? Sometimes creating an unusual break is effective. Sometimes it isn't. The thing I seem to find is that you have to be aware of what you are choosing to do. Creating a flow and then causing turbulence is interesting, but turbulence without structure is not. Or maybe it is. Maybe the next step lies in transcending structure. It's possible, but I'm not ready to do that yet. I am still in the place where rules exist, though they become more fluid as I go. An old adage tells us that you must first know the rules before you know when to break them. So I begin to experiment with the rules. I construct and then disconnected. And learn something about the process, why the rules exist and why I can move beyond them. From there its really to much of a leap to comparing the rules of one art form to another and looking for the overarching principles, or to questioning what the rules are for in the first place. This leads naturally into the question of what art is, which sits right on the doorstep of Metaphysics. I find all of these things to be connected, but as of yet I'm not able to put all of the pieces together. I tend to follow the as above so below philosophy, and thus reach the conclusion that by exploring one I am exploring both. Reflecting on life and making a mix tape become one in the same. You might want to think about that the next time someone gives you one.
I think that's about as far as I'm willing to take this tonight, but I'll probably return to it again sometime. I find it to be a interesting and largely ignored subject. Until then I'll just declare this all unresolved.
Currently listening to: South Park: Chef Aid
Currently reading: Richard Butz - How to Carve Wood
Last Netflix Movie: The Missing
Rather than writing about my unfinished work on the subject, though, I thought I'd explore a little my thoughts on one of the most important elements of the mix tape. The flow. Also known as the groove, the flow is right at the center of any mix tape, and I think at the center of life. What I'm talking about is something like a state of mind that manifests itself in tangible ways. In terms of the mix tape it has to do with structure and movement. There is a logical progression that you should seek to maintain. One song ends and another begins in a natural, organic way. Internalized, you seek to maintain this same fluid movement in your life.
I think a small bit of elaboration may be in order. Life is often a difficult process, and it's full of distractions, and problems that get in the way. If you always run at these and seek to overcome them with brute force you don't often make any progress, but if you allow yourself to pass by them like the river flows past rocks that disrupt it's course. That's not to say that there aren't rapids, or waterfalls, but there is an understanding that these will pass as surely as they came up. Now, in taking this principle into the realm of art you become the creator of the obstructions through which another river will flow. By your act of creation you provide the opportunity for someone else to experience something new. When you know what it is that you are attempting to do with your project you can employ obstacles to your advantage. It is clear in a novel. The use of tension and obstacles draws the reader into the story and helps them to bond with the characters they are reading about. If a book consisted of a series of uninteresting scenes where nothing ever happened it would be pointless. We read books to learn something about ourselves and the world around us. It is by representing the problems of the world in a more structured way that art can help us to understand and relate to the world and our place within it. All types of art do this. Looking at Andy Warhol's soup can we come face to face with consumerism. Watching Goodfellas we come face to face with the brutality of mob life. The mix tape, when understood, is not different.
I realize that there is a tendency to discount the mix tape as an art form, but they are innately concerned with aesthetics and composition and I have no issue including them as a form of artistic expression. I also realize that all of this looks like a tangled collection of Eastern and Western thought mixed with endless metaphor, and there's certainly a lot of truth to that. The problem is that whenever you begin to question the nature of the mix tape you must also deal with certain metaphysical issues. These are the questions that art seeks to explore, and must explore to understand art.
So where have my thoughts taken me? I spend a good amount of time looking at the transitions between songs on a mix tape. I find I prefer to make these transitions as seamless as possible, but realizing this I then seek out the dissonant. What happens if you push the boundaries? Sometimes creating an unusual break is effective. Sometimes it isn't. The thing I seem to find is that you have to be aware of what you are choosing to do. Creating a flow and then causing turbulence is interesting, but turbulence without structure is not. Or maybe it is. Maybe the next step lies in transcending structure. It's possible, but I'm not ready to do that yet. I am still in the place where rules exist, though they become more fluid as I go. An old adage tells us that you must first know the rules before you know when to break them. So I begin to experiment with the rules. I construct and then disconnected. And learn something about the process, why the rules exist and why I can move beyond them. From there its really to much of a leap to comparing the rules of one art form to another and looking for the overarching principles, or to questioning what the rules are for in the first place. This leads naturally into the question of what art is, which sits right on the doorstep of Metaphysics. I find all of these things to be connected, but as of yet I'm not able to put all of the pieces together. I tend to follow the as above so below philosophy, and thus reach the conclusion that by exploring one I am exploring both. Reflecting on life and making a mix tape become one in the same. You might want to think about that the next time someone gives you one.
I think that's about as far as I'm willing to take this tonight, but I'll probably return to it again sometime. I find it to be a interesting and largely ignored subject. Until then I'll just declare this all unresolved.
Currently listening to: South Park: Chef Aid
Currently reading: Richard Butz - How to Carve Wood
Last Netflix Movie: The Missing
posted by brian at 12:46 AM
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