on difficulty
DESCRIPTION
On Difficulty. in poetry and other arts. George Steiner, On Difficulty (1978). A common reaction to poetry: Huh? Four Difficulties Contingent Modal Tactical (my favorite!) Ontological. Four Difficulties. Contingent -- a cultural reference that you might have to "go look up." - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
On Difficulty
in poetry and other arts
George Steiner, On Difficulty (1978)
A common reaction to poetry: Huh?
Four DifficultiesContingentModalTactical (my favorite!)Ontological
Four Difficulties
Contingent -- a cultural reference that you might have to "go look up."
Your understanding (and, presumably, enjoyment) is contingent on knowing some fact (or tune?)
Jan van EyckMarriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami, 1434
single candle =
God’s eye
St Margaret?
crystal prayer beads
oranges = ?shoes
imported carpet $$$
Fido
Four Difficulties
Modal -- after sincerely trying to engage and understand the work, you just can't like it due to fundamental issues of taste or personal experience.
(Horror films revel in modal difficulty.)
The Slaughtered Ox 1655
Four Difficulties Tactical -- the artist deliberately gets in your way of
immediately understanding the work's meaning (Why do this? Which is more enjoyable – the tale
or the telling of the tale?) Pulp Fiction Speed or overwhelming complexity of music –
bebop Insider slang in lyrics Ravel’s La Valse
Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Woman in Front of a Mirror, 1841oil on canvas, 33.5 x 26 cm (13 3/16 x 10 1/4)
Braque, The
Portuguese, 1911
CUBISM
James Rosenquist Welcome to the Water Planet1987
POP-ART
Hypo Alpe-Adria Center in Klagenfurt, Austria, MAYNE, 2002
Four Difficulties
Ontological -- the artist through the work challenges the very definition of the genre or even the idea of art itself
Fountain, 1917
Four Difficulties
ContingentModalTactical (my favorite!)Ontological
All together now . . .
HOLBEIN, HansThe Ambassadors1533Oil on wood207 x 209.5 cm
Attention, shoppers. From within the inverted commas of a strambotto, seditious whispering watermarks this time of day. Time to get
out and, as they say, about.
From a poem, “Where Shall I Wander,” by John Ashbery, 2005
Attention, shoppers. From within the inverted commas of a strambotto, seditious whispering watermarks this time of day. Time to get
out and, as they say, about.
From a poem, “Where Shall I Wander,” by John Ashbery, pub. 2005
contingent
Attention, shoppers. From within the inverted commas of a strambotto, seditious whispering watermarks this time of day. Time to get
out and, as they say, about.
From a poem, “Where Shall I Wander,” by John Ashbery, pub. 2005
tactical
Attention, shoppers. From within the inverted commas of a strambotto, seditious whispering watermarks this time of day. Time to get
out and, as they say, about.
From a poem, “Where Shall I Wander,” by John Ashbery, pub. 2005
ontologicalThis is a poem?
ontologicalThis is a poem?
in music?
Brian Ferneyhough
Ferneyhough String Trio (1995)
Ontological?
Tactical?
Convention Expression
John Cage (after McLuhan)
‘music is information brushing against information’
JOHN ADAMS
Hallelujah Junction (1996)
for 2 pianos – rhythmically very tricky for the performers
improv, especially with electronics
new tunings
rhythmic developments
hybrids with rock, studio techniques
timbral refinement
Non-ontological directions in new music
x
Me
Sonata Rocinante – a tactical difficultyan initial idea
as written
developed
Sonata Rocinante
Rocinante – Don Quixote’s horse
4 sections -- Rocinante•as described by Cervantes
(bony, stubborn)•as imagined by Quixote•again as described by Cervantes•as imagined by Quixote –
and the reader?
• the horse• the rider• the writer• the reader
(computer demo performance)
Sonata Rocinante
the horse
Sonata Rocinante
the rider
Quixote’s POV – Rocinante as dark, powerful, muscular
(sort of in the style of Chopin)
Sonata Rocinante
the writer
the author’s games(the composer’s games)
horsin’ around
Sonata Rocinante
the reader
the response of the reader integrating the effects of the novel
Undercurrent
traditional motific development & expansion
then subjected to various folding, fragmentation and repetition