Deft Magic

I recently noted on twitter that I felt dissatisfied with my Google+ music circle because there was an over-abundance of discussion about gear and business, and a crushing dearth of conversation about craft. This led to a productive and intriguing dialogue between myself and two other musicians, one in the UK, the other in Canada. I was both surprised and delighted, as I always am, to exchange ideas on twitter concerning a topic that truly interests me. Especially one I’ve instigated or, as happens, have also been thinking about just when it’s instigated by someone else. A huge majority of the people with whom I interact are musicians and composers and one of the most exciting aspects of exchange is how different they are from me, and how different their process is from mine. I love learning about these things! In this recent twitter conversation, I learned that both of these musicians felt that direct discussion of process (craft) was very intimate. Really, I thought? Discussing what I feel about my craft is intimate, but discussion of the craft itself, not so much. And, from my perspective, is this intimacy any more dangerous or unsettling than the intimacy of art behind the craft? Absolutely not. Less so, possibly. If you tossed them both from a ferris wheel, I think they’d hit the ground simultaneously to the naked eye, even if careful measurement would reveal that the intimate exposure of art outweighs revealing details of my attachment to craft. And yet, despite their first reactions, both of these fine musicians revealed a little bit and seemed to enjoy sharing something they’d considered — perhaps I’m putting words in their mouths, but this is what I understood them to be saying — too private and difficult to share. To me, it was a lovely collegial exchange. 

Several hours later, when I was no longer online, another musician remarked that he thought my expectations of this kind of discussion were perhaps inappropriate, too intimate, likening the discussion to writing together, and indicating that that was too intimate to even be uttered as possible. It’s interesting how each of us feels about the work we do! As wide as my style and process might be from Sam (the Canadian) and Beth (the Brit) — those are their #soundcloud links — we all three share a kind of openness to possibility, a willingness to disclose honestly, to be seen perhaps as “wrong” but to be seen for what we actually are. In my mind, that’s the first rung on the ladder towards creating art. That openness, honesty, and willingness to be vulnerable in the face of revealing larger truths about humanity…that’s Point Go. Before talent, even. Just that willingness. If you can’t do that, what are you bringing to the actual work?

Intimacy is the language of art. Without it, we have nothing, no substance, no actual matter. These days, thankfully, I’ve lost my appetite for trying to define art. In fact, “deft magic” is pretty much the closest that I’m interested in venturing as a description of what it feels like to create it. Nonetheless, in my deepest heart, I know that intimacy — the opening of private experience into public expression — is fundamental to the process. And when you’re out on the cliff by yourself, either psyching up to jump or just waiting for the right moment to turn around, it’s a bit nice to know that other people are out on other cliffs, as well, looking at an entirely different view.