What is art?

Last night, I had my first night of performing at Texas Roadhouse. What a fun place! I had only eaten there one time before. I was so surprised not only by the fun atmosphere, but by the great enthusiasm the employees have for their jobs. It surely made my night go by quickly. If any of you are in the Harrisburg area, I urge you to stop by the Camp Hill Texas Roadhouse Tuesday evenings from 5-8.

I came across a fascinating article today from almost a year ago in the Washington Post. It details an experiment done by the newspaper and a world renown musician. Here's the link.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/04/AR2007040401721.html?hpid=topnews

(Edit here, for some reason, I can't click the actual link. If you can't, just copy and paste in your browser window.)

It's a bit lengthy, so I'll give you the gist of it. They conducted an experiment with world famous violinist Joshua Bell. They wanted to know if his art could transcend his venue. They dressed him in jeans and a sweatshirt and set him up in a busy subway station in D.C. As he stood there and played his 3 MILLION dollar violin, (yep, that's right) a shocking thing happened. No one noticed. Now, surely these people could recognize wonderful music. You don't have to be an aficionado of classical music to know it's beautiful. A few people tossed bills and coins in his open case. Of course, he wasn't doing this for the money. Joshua makes about $100 a minute when he plays with symphonies all over the world. The point was would he be regarded as just another street performer. To 99% of the people, the answer sadly, was yes. There was one woman at the end of the story who was a ray of sunshine for me. I really urge you to check it out. There is video and audio. Just look at it and you'll see what I mean.

I got into a very heated debate online with someone on this topic. He says that your venue and audience decide if you are an artist, or just a guy with a fiddle. Undoubtedly, that's what the article would have you believe. I say no. An artist is someone who puts a piece of their very soul into every performance. Joshua does it, the world's great painters do it, and yep this big bald guy with a deck of cards does it. So be on the lookout. You just might see an artist at work when you least expect it. On a street corner, at a train station, or at a restaurant before your meal arrives. Take a few minutes, and enjoy what they are creating for you.