May 21, 2009

DEEP THOUGHTS...with Carl

I'm no purist. I think that is evident. I can appreciate challenging assumptions about art and having fun with it.

When I tweet about things such as an Underwater Opera or read about the Jerry Springer, the Opera, I am not necessarily mocking them. I'm amused and curious. I honestly want to see Jerry Springer, the Opera.

But (c'mon, now, you know there had to be a "but" here sometime)...But my allegiance to the art form of opera makes me a little defensive. I wonder how far is too far? What is gimmick and what is honest?

Seeing this story today is what prompted all my philosophizing. It's about a "scent opera"--"a new performance art that pairs music with a carefully orchestrated sequence of smells, some pleasant and some real stinkers."

My eyes couldn't help rolling up into their sockets. In this case, I'm really leaning toward gimmick--after all, "the opera was conceived by Stewart Matthew, a corporate financier turned entrepreneur who co-founded Aeosphere, a 'fragrance media' company." (Yeah.)

Nonetheless, it still fuels my ongoing questions about what is art. Alas, woe is the chicken who ponders!

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