learn the rules - THEN break the rules
cut from here.
"... to thwart a system, you need to know that system... You can’t make good abstract art unless you know from what you are abstracting. If you hate the current state of music and you want to turn modern songwriting and performance on its head, know what the head looks like when it’s right-side up. If you consider the greatest abstract/surrealist artists of all time and study their early work, you will see that they mastered the traditional elements of their art before pushing the envelope."
my thought:
all communication (art / music) exists in the context of a culture. for something to ring true -- that culture must first be acknowledged, and then mastered -- then and only then can you depart from it and say something new. anything less lacks authenticity and a fundamental lack of respect for what comes before.
"... to thwart a system, you need to know that system... You can’t make good abstract art unless you know from what you are abstracting. If you hate the current state of music and you want to turn modern songwriting and performance on its head, know what the head looks like when it’s right-side up. If you consider the greatest abstract/surrealist artists of all time and study their early work, you will see that they mastered the traditional elements of their art before pushing the envelope."
my thought:
all communication (art / music) exists in the context of a culture. for something to ring true -- that culture must first be acknowledged, and then mastered -- then and only then can you depart from it and say something new. anything less lacks authenticity and a fundamental lack of respect for what comes before.
posted by P3T3RK3Y5 for meltingearth
3 Comments:
I agree. How do you think this principle applies to theology? Liturgy? Ecclesiology? Missiology?
I think about this stuff quite a bit. :-) The principle you state sums up fairly succinctly the reason why, though I'm ambivilent about any sort of ordination within some church system, I think seminary is probably unavoidable for me. Because I need to learn the "rules" before I can break them in a respectful, faithful, and practical manner.
Respectful rebellion, it sounds like an oxymoron, but I think it is a novel concept. We need more of this in our world, more of us men and women need to be what one writer referred to as, "swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."
I suppose that's true if what you're looking to do specifically is to be different, but what if you're just being authentically yourself, which happens to run contrary to what others are doing?
Of course, that's all well and good in theory, but if you're immersed in something -- say, a culture -- then it makes sense that coincidental independence is unlikely.
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home