Open Up

Art has been on my mind too lately.

A few years ago, if you presented me with a painting, or a sculpture, or a novel, I would have had lots to say: I would analyze the method of creation, the historical context vs. the current context, the internal logic, the psychology of the artist as expressed in the work, the archetypal imagery, etc, etc. These days though, there's something else I'm more interested in.

Dancing.

I've danced for a long time. Never well, mind you, but I've always loved when a good tune got me moving. Music got me through high school, and by the time I rolled into Greeley, I couldn't walk down the street without headphones on my ears and a bounce in my step.

Really, "a bounce " is a pretty huge understatement.

More and more, I'm thinking that the sort of reaction I've long had with music, the desire to move, the desire to add my voice to the music, to take part in it, to FEEL how it feels is way more important than being able to figure out whether a particular work is modernist or existentialist.

And I don't mean to knock analysis. It's wonderful, and tons of fun, but it's just not the point.

Good art speaks to us. Whether it's standing on a podium and shrieking something, or just pointing out some detail we might not have noticed, art communicates. It's something people do, with people in mind. The more I learn about conversation, the more I recognize the importance of opening yourself up and feeling what's being felt. I've been telling people that you haven't really understood Zarathustra unless you've had a good cry reading it, just like I don't think you understand Daft Punk if you can listen to "Harder Better Faster Stronger" without moving about. The same goes for just being with other people.

We've gotta sing, and we've gotta dance. And we've gotta let the songs hit us where our dancing bone is.

When art provokes thought, it brings us into a conversation, and we can help keep it going. But we have to listen.

And talking about the way the conversation is going is a bit different from being a part of it. Most of the time anyway.