As I lie here, watching my current favorite musical Jerry Springer the Opera. I started pondering the concept of discordance and beauty.

Many of you know that I am a big musical fan. Now there are musicals from composers like Rogers and Hammerstein, Jerry Herman and such. These are beautiful musicals, rich with lovely characters. Then you have composers like William Finn and Richard Thomas. These are my absolute favorites. Why? because, rather than sticking to conventional modalities, subjects and chords they create a unique and unexpected version of a conventional art form and a new experience. The clashing chords, unexpected harmonies and lyrics can often make an uncomfortable listening experience for the average listener and don’t necessarily appeal to everyone but these compositions, to me, are an art form in themselves rather than just entertainment.

Models these days come in two basic types. There is the pretty and then there is the unusual. Some models have very unusual faces or proportions. They are the ones who catch our eyes because of their uniqueness, their unusual structure, their unconventional beauty that is slightly wrong or discordant.

When you hear a discordant note or choral piece and you feel the goosebumps rise on your flesh, that is the art working it’s way in. When you see a catwalk model with an unconventional face, who is a painting rather than a blank canvas, then we notice the uniqueness and feel drawn to it.

So what does this have to do with art? It comes down to my personal definition. Art isn’t necessarily pretty pictures, it isn’t always comfortable or perfect. The nature of imperfection frequently defines a piece, makes the viewer stop and take notice, to make their feelings and body react. Reaction doesn’t need to be positive, Not everyone needs to love a piece for it to be artistic. Dischords create resonance, and it’s that resonance that sticks with us and puts the goosebumps on our arms.

That, ultimately, is what I want to create with my artwork, a sense, a feeling, a unique interpretation of a classic artform.

Tags: art, artist, musing, musical