Saturday, May 9, 2009

The Arts

I have never been a very great admirer of music. Why, I have never even been an admirer of fine art. The harmonies (and disharmonies) of nature, of society, of all the things around me seem art enough to satisfy my senses. I am and will remain a fellow fascinated with science. For me science is art.

But over the past year or so I have realised that there is more to art and music than what I have seen. This inclines me to think that taking up art as a hobby might prove fruitful in more than one way to distract me from the rigours of life.

First about art. When I was at the National Gallery in London I was astounded by the importance that people there gave to their art and artists. It is typical for art galleries to have paintings on both sides of a large hall and a couple of benches right in the middle of the hall. People sit on these benches and admire the art. So I sat there and looked at the paintings. All of them looked very nice, but I was unable appreciate their beauty (if there was any). But I am sure that great artists are not over-rated. They must have been extremely devoted to art and their art must truly reflect their passion. A reflection that I have totally missed thus far.

Next about music (with which I am little better off). The first time that I remember listening to music seriously was when I was about 9 or 10 years old when my father introduced me to the 70's music of BoneyM. The songs were nice and I still listen to some of them. From then on, I have been listening to music passed on by friends and relatives. Although they were all good to listen, I never really was content. It is only recently that I have "discovered" the kind of music that I like. Now I am finding new music that I can listen and appreciate without being prejudiced by reviews from others.

This music that I speak of is not pertinent to a single country, genre or culture. It is anything that pleases me. At the moment though, Irish traditional music seems to be my favourite and Solas seem to have more music that I like. But I am whimsical. These tastes will evolve as time passes.

I still remember that over 2 years ago I had this idea for a "start-up" company. A music search engine that finds music that a person might like. I was pursuing it for a while with a friend but nothing has materialized so far.

Now that I have a different view about the arts maybe I will develop keener senses for appreciating the subtleties that lay hidden in them.

P.S: Right now I am listening to The Hanover Reel by Solas from their album Waiting for an Echo.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

http://songza.com/
http://mixturtle.com/

Check these..

Srinath S said...

Thanks I will check them out. :)