I thought about this a few months back, specifically about the suburb around where I live but I suspect the deal is the same in most places. There isn't a great culture of art appreciation around here, in fact it's virtually non-existent. Trends seem to dictate most of what people occupy themselves with. A few years ago Japanese sports cars took off and recently, as we're hearing more My Chemical Romance and less Britney Spears, a lot of teenagers have gone from sunshine teenybopper to emo wrist-slitter. Very insular people.

I don't have illusions about my own intelligence, I'm aware I have many limits, but I still get frustrated with the apathy and just plain ignorance of so many people I see from day to day, mostly the younger generation. Maybe I have no basis to make the comparison, but I thought that perhaps a more culturally developed society was a wiser society, like mpittman said. I saw the appreciation of art, and the critical thinking it can require, as a catalyst for critical thinking beyond aesthetics.

But then, I go to arts school. I meet so many self-indulgent artists who aren't exactly examples of a the well-rounded contributing member of society fine art should breed, as I described above. Sure, they may make amazing artworks, perform or compose amazing pieces of music, but I've found so many of my peers don't give a shit about anything outside their own life. Again, insular people. In other words, I don't know what great positive change these artists are inducing. If this is the case at an Art School, then what else can you expect of an art-savvy society?



So, is music really a pillar of humanity? I'd like to think so, its been around me for the bulk of my life. But like tanjello stated, there do seem to be a myriad of issue that are far more important and immediate to deal with, and these could be as simple as making sure there's food on the table. Or at least, that's how it seems, and has for a while.

Also, regarding what T Bogus said about 'fine arts' and 'wealthy'.

I was among a few others from my music school who were granted awards with prize money from the Atheneum Club. This was one of the more generous cash awards handed out in the performance competitions. Membership to the Atheneum Club is invitation only. I was told that to be invited to join the club you had to acquire a certain amounts worth of art, as in, be rich.

I think it's a good thing that an organisation supported artists (not just musicians, the club also had awards for visual artists), myself included. But it's one thing to appreciate the arts and another to throw money at it because you can. In what was described as a 'legacy', the Club donated four violins to the school. These were expensive instruments, but that didn't make them good ones. The performers where expected to play on them, and this made a them very unhappy. It's all pretty messy, but the Club have no idea, and believe they've done something great for the arts by being rich without engaging.

Just a little anecdote.

I doubt the sincerity of the Club. A few other things about the club put me off including the fact that there was a floor of their building that women weren't allowed on (wtf?) and that they hosted Liberal Party events. This may be irrelevant, but it was under Liberal Party rule that my college lost $4.5million funding per year. Real champions of the arts...

For some reason; I never noticed you were from Great Britian.




You have to keep in mind The Athenaeum was originally only for Men. Women were only allowed to join in 2002.


Originally, the first members were all rich and/or had a title.


You don't need to have aquired a certain amount of Art to become a member. The membership fee is € 165.


You do need to have accomplished something or shown promise in Science, Literature, the Arts, or in Public Service.







"I sent the club a wire stating, Please accept my resignation. I don't want to belong to any club that will accept me as a member."


— Groucho Marx

Wordsworth, Baby!


Of all the teachers I had; only 2 of them really helped me learn.

I don't want to get into my low opinion of teachers and schools (be it public or private schools) in general. However, most of my education was from my parentals, family and on my own. I was always interested in learning something or another.


I probably spent more time sleeping (yes, at one time Satchmo actually not only slept, but he enjoyed it!) in class than awake and that includes College. Of course with College, I only showed up for the tests in a great many classes.


Things are different today. Very few parents actually bother to spend much time with their kids. If they do, it's usually in front of the TV.


I probably lived in almost every country and city (ok, it just seems that way), but my parents would have my siblings and myself learn about that country and as much of the language as we could pick up. They would turn the constant moving around into a classroom, and they would make it fun for us.



P.S. For the last 12-years; I have actually have been unofficially banned from any Teacher/Parent meetings for the horde. Of course, they still want Satchmo's money to build something or another for the schools in question.

Not that I had much time or inclination to go to any in that time. I always found them to be a waste of time back when I was a kid.

One time a teacher (ok, everytime) was going on about how I was constatnly getting into trouble or talking in class with the other kids, because I would finish my assignments in class before everyone else. My mother listens to this and asks....why don't you just give him more work?

Now....just imagine the sound of crickets during the silence after this question was asked.

That's the typical pragmatic, Protestant work ethic. Follow your calling (job) and worship God. The only way to validate your creativity is to make a buck doing it. Funny how you don't have to be religious and you'll still follow this doctrine!

Anyway, as much as I dig Paul Klee and s1ck tunez, I don't really think it would be effective to mandate art appreciation. People often think little of things they were "forced" to take in at school. I still have trouble reading Charles Dickens to this day. Of course, remember that he was paid BY THE WORD!

What can be more sterile and pointless than "art appreciation."

I hope that these things will continue to be available in some form for those, like myself, who can be bothered with it. Literature, history, music, art, and underwater basket weaving help me, in a strange way, to be a little more in tune with my surroundings. They even help me understand the empirical world to some extent.

Selfish as it sounds...it's all about my personal struggle/enjoyment of life. Maybe some of it will bleed into someone who knows me. I doubt that my personal ponderings regarding art and music would be all that useful to society as a whole.

I can't really sit around and worry about what everyone else is thinking about because I have too much to learn in not enough time.

The "Satchmo8101 Building"

Hey, now. I loved Dickens as a kid. Yeah, he could have used a bit of editing, but still damn good reading.


P.S. He happened to have been a member of the aforementioned Athenaeum Club.

Hmm. I'm in Australia, not GB! Perhaps the Atheneum Club has a chapter in Australia?

What I mentioned about the Club was information I received from the receptionist. I did hear that the Atheneum Club was at one time a gentlemen's club, but if they're still enforcing a male only floor.. I think they've got to get with the times!



I did a quick search for the Atheneum Club of London, and on the official site there is no mention of Australia... or much else, really. I'm assuming the Club here was formed in the image of the London one and may otherwise be unrelated. That's a nice quote too.

The (apparent) reality of what I've chosen to study has kind of dawned on me lately. I realise that there isn't a lot of guaranteed money in music performance. I'm keeping on doing it because I can't imagine much else I could really be happy doing, and that's essentially it.

But then I realise that a passion for your vocation isn't always enough to pay the bills, and that's a scary thought.

Also, myself being someone who would like to engage with society and community, find it hard to see my music practice as being distinctly beneficial towards these ends. You similarly noted that you didn't think your own artistic pursuits would be necessarily beneficial to society. I'm personally finding this to be a dilemma.

Likewise (not so sure about the basket weaving though.. ). I wonder if this is something universal, or true to different degrees from individual to individual.

1. Yeah, I thought you were from Australia. However, when I saw the name of the club....it made me think you might have been originally from London or somewhere in England. It has to be a affiliated to the original one. Since Australia is part of the Commonwealth, they couldn't legally have the same name.



2. The receptionist told you that you had to have aquired a certain amount of art to become a member or that there was a floor that was off limits to women?


3. Groucho was Jewish, so, keep in mind the quote has a deeper meaning that many never realize. Not that I am saying you might not have caught it.