Art & Society

» Mary Rayme - another opinion

Thank you for your opinions and thoughtful response to my writing. I appreciate your point of view entirely.

I, personally, would rather attend a "silent symphony" than a full performance of Handel's Messiah. I think this has to do with preference, or taste, sort of like someone preferring vanilla over chocolate.

I was raised in Baltimore and attended more symphony & opera performances than I care to recall because I did not particularly enjoy them. Perhaps I also enjoy the idea of having my imagination be a more active creator in the "silent symphony" process? There is also a contextual element in that in my life right now, I need more quiet, less symphony. So my choice also becomes personal. I know it's unusual and weird. Most people would indeed go for Handel's Messiah. ;-)

And perhaps Pollock is poor example since I'm not a huge Pollock fan. (I think it does in some ways denigrate his art to have cigarette butts embedded in them, but also provides a record or document of his life and work.) But I will say that I can look at the abstract work of Mark Rothko (particularly the lovely Rothko room at the Phillips Collection in Washington DC) and feel as moved as looking at a Rembrandt or Titian....even Vermeer.

Thank you again for making me think about these issues more carefully and from a different point of view. Cheers to you from a fellow art lover,

Mary Rayme