My subjective objective today is to, by the end of this investigation, have found a string of words that can serve as a definition to the undefinable; Quality. I say undefinable because I believe that Quality is not a static destination, but rather a fluid event. I do not expect, nor desire, to find any final success. This is a mere cracking open of the door and peek between the crack.
But first I would like to speak to my motivation for choosing this question to be the Society’s first essay topic. Just what are we doing here? Don’t let the boisterous persona I often allow to take the reins in our discussions fool you. Judging art is not something I am entirely comfortable with. The truth is I often cringe when I watch back some of my critique’s. But it’s ok to look ugly in the pursuit of the beautiful, and that is what I am interested in. The pursuit of the beautiful, and its separation and honoration above art of a lesser Quality. Especially in a world where lesser quality “easy” art is celebrated at the highest levels whilst its ugly cousin is shunned into the dark corner for being “difficult”.
We are taught that Quality is purely subjective. That never sat well with me. “You can’t say it’s bad if other people like it”. Hard to argue with that statement, but I’ll try. There are all sorts of reasons why people might like low quality art. Maybe they are lazy. Maybe they are afraid to feel, or think. Or maybe they are confused and believe that art is a form of escapement via entertainment. A temporary reprieve from reality. Quality doesn’t happen when you escape reality. Quality happens when you dive into it.
Quality decreases subjectivity. Quality takes you OUT of yourself and makes you one with it. It is actually OPPOSED to subjectivity.
Some are only interested in romantic beauty, the beauty of appearances which ignite the senses. They cannot see or do not want to see the Classical beauty which gives structure to the romantic. Classic beauty is the “harmonious order of the parts”.
Harmony. We are getting closer. Quality has a sense of harmony of the cosmos at its core. Even God in his masterpiece knew the hierarchy of quality to be his guiding principle when he “…saw the light, that it was GOOD; and God divided the light from the darkness” GENESIS 1:4.
Having a sense of what’s good isn’t a talent. We are all born with the capability, but it is something that is developed. It’s not just intuition but rather a deep observation and contact with reality.
I want to take a quick detour. There is a band called Phish.
(Note that this essay is being read aloud live on a podcast, and Chris just made some kind of comment, “Oh God”, or laughed, or at least a smirk?)
Phish ruined the concert going experience for me. Well, to be more accurate, it defined the concert going experience for me. What is so special about Phish, and what cannot be understood until you experience it for yourself, is that Phish isn’t interested in showing you what you already know. What you know is in the past. Phish wants to explore communication, in the present. This is what is called, “jamming”.
In jamming, anything can, and will, happen. You have four expert musicians who have dedicated their lives to understanding their tools. But when the jam starts, the idea is that they let all that “knowledge” go, and, with “harmony of the parts” as their guide, they listen, and react. They give themselves up. Musician and Music become one. Object (physical) and subject (mental) become one. And thus, a Quality event, is possible. Not guaranteed, but possible.
The goal is not perfection. There must be a willingness to fail. Within this willingness to fail comes freedom to tune oneself towards quality. There is no doubt when the Quality comes. The Harmony of the Parts is felt by all in attendance. We all know. The intent here, as far as Phish is concerned, is not to prove anything. It is not to make the amount of money necessary to be considered for a Grammy. The intent is to surrender to Quality.
Take, for example, a self taught guitarist vs an institute trained guitarist (this analogy works with just about anything, mechanic, for instance). The institute trained guitarist has been taught everything except how to adapt to a new situation. Put these two guitarists together and watch how they react when asked to “jam”. The institute guitarist is thinking backwards, to technique, to music theory, to genre, methods, tools! He relies on old situations. The self taught guitarist was trained on new situations. He is forced to become inventive, because the problems he faced when learning were overcome through Quality itself.
There have been plenty of examples of films The Society have seen this year where one or more of the film reporters have claimed that the film felt, “masterbatorial”. Why do we feel that? Could it be perhaps that we sensed that The Director and the Movie felt separated? Subject (Director) and Object (Movie). Perhaps a film like Ingmar Bergman’s “Cries and Whispers” is so uniformly accepted as masterful because there is no trace of this dualism. It is a dynamic event, where the creator was a part of the creation, not outside it, but in it. Bergman “jammed”. He was willing to fail. He was willing to listen, and react. The event was alive, and he was listening to how it wanted to come together, and thus, harmony of the parts.
I’m not sure I can keep this up much longer. I am tiring. Remember, at the beginning, I firmly stated that Quality is dynamic. It’s so dynamic that the more I struggle to put parameters on it now, the more I feel like it is escaping me. Quality might want to be left alone. Or maybe I am aware that the Quality of this essay will suffer if I continue to pry at it from a weary state. Or maybe my enthusiasm on solving this riddle was never really there.
The Greek root of the English word “Enthusiasm” is “Enthousiasmos” which literally translates to “In God’s Presence”.
A film can get made for all types of reason. Warner Bros recent decision to sacrifice its entire 2021 lineup from theatrical release to keep its streaming service HBO Max alive is a fair representative of why most things get made. To make money. There is no Enthousiasmos here.
A person who cares can detect Quality on the horizon, and works to surrender oneself to be possessed by it.
As far as I am concerned, Quality is a harmonious event that occurs by people who care. Care. The doorway is Care.
0 Comments