An examination of why modern art can be easier to appreciate than modern music.
An examination of why modern art can be easier to appreciate than modern music.
History & criticism, Popular culture, Social
Modern art is a mass phenomenon. Conceptual artists like Damien Hirst enjoy celebrity status. Works by 20th century abstract artists like Mark Rothko are selling for record breaking sums, while the millions commanded by works by Andy Warhol and Francis Bacon make headline news. However, while the general public has no trouble embracing avant garde and experimental art, there is, by contrast, mass resistance to avant garde and experimental music, although both were born at the same time under similar circumstances - and despite the fact that from Schoenberg and Kandinsky onwards, musicians and artists have made repeated efforts to establish a "synaesthesia" between their two media. Fear of Music examines the parallel histories of modern art and modern music and examines why one is embraced and understood and the other ignored, derided or regarded with bewilderment, as noisy, random nonsense perpetrated by, and listened to by the inexplicably crazed. It draws on interviews and often highly amusing anecdotal evidence in order to find answers to the question: Why do people get Rothko and not Stockhausen?
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Praise for the 1st edition of this title released in 2009: The title belies the fact that the main thrust of the content is a parallel history of contemporary art and music with a conclusion that attempts to answer the question inherent in the title, but, of course, fails. That's not a criticism as the content is informative and thought provoking and there never was going to be a clear answer. The author crams in a great deal in this short space and does it with an intense, evocative style, not difficult to read and absorb. If you are interested in contemporary music, particularly the kind that challenges the norm, this will prove to be a good investment. ~ Bill Anderton, www.newentorchestra.org/reviews
