This essay reinforced my belief that everything is relative. Viola’s story of the gamelan musicians who were unable to play pieces of a musical composition showed that to them, a composition is a whole that cannot be divided. Sure western musicians can try to break it up, but their concept of music is fundamentally different. Does that make it wrong?…not necessarily. To them it’s natural, normal- everything to an extent, is relative.
I did find interesting Viola’s observation that we have a space where things exist in their entirety before they are created. (His example of writing and being able to see its end before getting there was good.) It was also interesting that he viewed the video screen as a third point of view that can be changed- it relates to our recurring discussions of windows and the computer as a medium of mediums.
Project Update. »« Watchmen -> Comics -> Perspectives.
I wrote about the gamelan music too. I thought it was funny, especially after hearing what gamelan music actually sounds like. It just seemed bizarre to me that he would ask such a thing for this type of music.
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