Art as Entertainment Vs. Art as Enlightenment

I want to apologize in advance to those who did not view this past weekend’s concert as my blog will be dealing with the imagery therein. However, the question I’m posing at the end is open to everyone who wishes to answer. I, Danielle, personally had a difficult time at this past weekend’s concert. While some people believed that the third concert would not only be the best concert of the season, but one of the best productions in the past five years, I walked away feeling disappointed and emotionally upset. I remember feeling convinced that the show was a sometimes hokey, sometimes cartoonish rehash of other PNME shows -- as though all the mask references we have ever done had finally culminated in an unfortunately spelled-out revelation, “Oh yes, things aren’t as they seem” or “Whenever you wear a cape you’re somebody, remove it and you’re nobody.” To me, however, the thought was, “Come on...is this the ONLY metaphor we use here at PNME?” To further moor my distaste, “?Corporel” by Vinko Globokar made me feel as though I was watching an exorcism on the stage and that it was nothing but shock for shock’s value. I remember feeling as though there was absolutely no need for such writhing and screaming; that it served no purpose other than to shift my personal relaxed happy place into one of a fetal position. Why would someone write such an awful thing? Why would anyone ever use it in a production? As I recounted to my friends later, never before in my five years of association with PNME had I wanted to walk out of the theatre more...and yet...never had I wanted more than to stick around. Why? Because I wanted to see if anyone else felt like they were sitting in a toilet. After the concert, I was fairly enraged, and my first thought was to seek out Kevin Noe, push him up against the wall, and harangue him for putting us all through such terror and, more importantly, to chastise him for pushing me out of my comfort level...and then I realized what I was saying. It was at that very moment, while both uncomfortable and angry, I realized that it wasn’t Kevin that had upset me, or PNME, or anyone...it was the work. The art had upset me -- the pieces, Vinko Globokar’s brain child. Suddenly, I wasn’t angry anymore. How could I be? I realized there was no one or no thing on which to focus my anger; there was just me and my emotions; a broken person after a 5 minute experience...slightly embarrassed. Over the next few hours I began to question why my experience was so visceral; why it was so passionate, even if it was passionately negative. My answer came when my thoughts shifted to the idea of art as enlightenment versus art as entertainment. I questioned myself if what I saw on Saturday was what I had expected going in and my answer was ‘no.’ Then it occurred to me that I had expected to be entertained by PNME -- not pushed in any way. How telling, I thought, that when I was pushed that I didn’t want to be...because I was so vulnerable; because I was not prepared. As an audience member, it is difficult to not be vulnerable. Speaking of vulnerability, let me just stop here and say that I’m feeling a little uncomfortable letting myself hang out here like this. It’s difficult to be someone involved with PNME and friends with the musicians and administrative team, and then wind up not liking a show. It’s especially difficult when lots of people around you feel like something is awesome and you feel like it’s, well, not. However, each person will view the same thing differently, and therefore, I don’t mind saying how I feel and I hope that you don’t either --I hope that you can say what you feel without worry or question. Okay, back to to the blog. All of this taken together made me think of this question -- how many of you come to a concert expecting to be entertained more than you expect to be pushed...or vice versa? Or, tell me about a time when PNME pushed you out of your comfort level and how it affected your future concert experiences. Best, Danielle x

The First

Greetings Audience Enrichment Initiative Participants and Audience Members, Welcome to the very first Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble Blog! Every two weeks I will post a new question here for you to respond to if you so choose -- one question for existing Audience Enrichment Initiative (AEI) participants and one for Audience members passing through. If you would like more information on what it means to become a participant in PNME’s AEI, please email me at: dani_b_pnme@yahoo.com Without further ado... In our first meeting together we discussed what we enjoyed and did not enjoy about “traditional” before and after concert talks. From that discussion, we pieced together an ideal type of before-concert talk and tried it out. Since the event, I have heard some great feedback -- most, if not all, of those who attended truly enjoyed this new form of the concert talk. My first question for you is, why do you think this talk was successful? Or, alternatively, what do you think made it a failure? If you did not attend the first composer talk meeting, the above question might be pretty confusing or boring to you. In that case, please consider this question -- tell me about your very first PNME experience and if you are a return visitor. If you are, what exactly made you return, and more importantly, what about your first experience made you want to come back for another round? PS: Please feel free to leave a comment if either of these questions do not interest you!