Context

From Robert Genn~

Did you ever wonder about the difference between a piece of art
in someone's basement and a piece of art in the National
Gallery? Did you ever wonder just exactly what constitutes
"good" art?

Readers may be familiar with the recent experiment done by the
Washington Post. The brilliant violinist Joshua Bell, fresh
from a performance at the Library of Congress with the Boston
Symphony, busked for free during the morning rush at a
Washington Metro station. Of the thousand-odd passersby, only a
few stopped, or even paused, to listen. Small change fell
infrequently into his open violin case--the very case that
holds his $3 million 1710 Strad. Most were oblivious to some of
the most beautiful and difficult music ever written for his
instrument. Interviewed after leaving the building, it seems
few commuters even noticed the guy in the baseball cap standing
by the frequently swinging doors. Thinking back, Bell believes
some thought his efforts offensive. The nearby skin mags,
shoeshine lady and lotto ticket machine got more attention. If
you want to see a remarkable video taken of the experimental
performance, we have it for you at the top of the current
clickback. See URL below.

Bell, when playing in more conventional venues, is a guy who
makes about a thousand dollars a minute. Much has been written
of his Metro debut. My take is that the Metro is now and will
forever remain an inappropriate place to hold a concert. Any
concert. Quality art deserves and needs a proper frame to be
fully recognized as quality art. In art, perception and context
are all-important. "Art pity" is not a significant generator of
fans.

Many visual artists who read this will never see their work in
the National Gallery. While there's a complex mix of
machinations that needs to happen in order to be there, we can
often make the choice to be in better venues. Quality mags beat
scandal sheets. Commercial galleries beat barber shops. We can
be selective about our galleries, too. The unfortunate truth is
that it's better to be on Lord Bluffington's walls than on Joe
Blogg's on the other side of the tracks. People who pay big
bucks to put their bottoms in the front row are just a wee bit
more likely to be enthusiastic. It's human nature.

Best regards,

Robert

PS: "I was oddly grateful when somebody threw a dollar instead
of change." (Joshua Bell)

Esoterica: Curiously, children being hustled by with their
parents were the ones who often turned and gawked. It was the
adults who hurried them out of harm's way. Still, Bell picked
up about $34 during his 43 minutes in the Metro. "That's about
forty dollars an hour," he mused. This is probably better than
a more average violinist performing in such a place. A
particular few--mainly ex-violinists--noticed the quality and
hung around to give a listen. No crowds gathered. Only one
passerby recognized Bell. She didn't know what the devil was
going on, but she gave him a whopping $20 anyway. She was
framing him differently.