Tuesday, January 11, 2011

1:36 PM | You Do Not Recognize What Beauty Is

Does art need context to be perceived as beautiful? In our busy lives, are we capable of recognizing beauty? I read this somewhere in Tumblr...

Washington, D.C. Metro Station on a cold January morning in 2007. The man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, approximately two thousand people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Four minutes later. The violinist received his first dollar: a woman threw the money in the hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.

Six minutes. A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at his watch and started to walk again.

Ten minutes. A 3-year old boy stopped but his mother tugged him along hurriedly. The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. Every parent, without exception, forced their children to move on quickly.

Forty-five minutes. The musician played continuously. Only six people stopped and listened for a short while. About twenty gave money but continued to walk at their normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.

One hour. He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million. Two days before, Joshua Bell sold out a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the Metro Station was organized by The Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and people’s priorities.

The questions raised: In a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour, do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?

One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made, how many other things are we missing?

[swiped from Carlo Flordeliza's Tumblr]

Here's the original article in The Washington Post by Gene Weingarten. And here's the video of that experiment:

Labels: art and culture, issues, life, psychology

[0] This is Where You Bite the Sandwich

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