Reading Blog #2

I love how this article discusses the intersection of music and art. This semester John Cage has come up both in this class and in my world music class. I totally agree with Duchamp’s idea that if you believe something is art, then it is. Music is the same way, and I’ve learned it’s not necessarily a universal language. Something that sounds awesome to some people may sound awful to others. Some cultures love harmonies that are really close together, but to me it would be clashing and make me wince a little. I also think we can have art and music at the same time, and John Cage’s score of 4:33 being in the MoMA means that at least a few other people agree with me. Music and art are meant to be intertwined, and both can express the full range of emotions. Pieces can also have no deeper meaning than to just look or sound cool. Though Cage would rather have people laugh at his pieces than cry, I find that sometimes putting on a devastatingly sad playlist is a way to feel something. Overall, I like how art brings a level of excitement to things that less artistic people would just see as mundane, like Cage and the sounds on Sixth Avenue. I know that sitting in my apartment in Boulder, especially with the thin walls, is a whole soundscape of its own and I think I’m more aware of that now. Whether it’s shovels scraping the ice, random yelling drunk dudes, early morning birds, and everything in between, it’s fun to have noise.