Recreating/Developing Art

This week’s section, “The Work of Art” has definitely been my favorite reading thus far. The only real issue that I had with the reading was the lack of conceptualizing the idea of “art” for the reader. I believe that “art” is anything that reflects any sort of emotional expression but the reading seems to focus on “art” as tangible objects.

That being said, this passage from the reading definitely captured my attention:

 “Even the most perfect reproduction of a work of art is lacking one element: its presence in time and space, its unique existence at the place where it happens to be. This unique existence of the work of art determined the history to which it was subject throughout the time of its existence.” (pg. 38)

This made me specifically think of a quote by Bill Kruetzmann, Drummer of the Grateful Dead  regarding the concept of cover bands and recreating historical performances. If you are unfamiliar, there are numerous bands that exclusively cover the Grateful Dead and even recreate some of their historic shows. In his recently released biography, Deal: My Three Decades of Drumming, Dreams, and Drugs with the Grateful Dead, Kreutzmann explained, “no other band has managed to sound exactly like us, although plenty have tried... to sound EXACTLY like us, I mean. There have been a plethora of tribute bands - perhaps too many - and then, too, a lion's den of copy cat bands…That's a huge compliment and I'm respectful of that aspect, but it doesn't make me especially feel proud, because those bands don't really honor the true spirit of the Grateful Dead. The true spirit has more to do with innovation, experimentation, risk - and whole-band improvisation - than it does with a particular guitar sound, or having two drummers and a bassist that doesn't play a repeating pattern. It's bands like Phish and the Disco Biscuits that really make me proud of what the Grateful Dead did, because they keep our spirit alive by taking what we created and doing their own thing with it. If people insist that we were the forefathers[of jambands], well then the kids have all grown up and moved out and given birth to babies of their own. Music should never be stagnant." I think this is true of any art in the sense that it does take a certain skill to recreate a piece of art or reenact a beautiful moment, but there is a certain lack of raw, organic emotional translation.

Furthermore, the text also dealt with the development of a work of art over time. My favorite band, Phish, is known for their ability to develop and change songs each time they play them as well as using successful improvised jam segments to compose music for future songs. The perfect way to watch the development of one their works of art is to listen to any rendition of “Black-Eyed Katy” from 1997. The song began as a simple funky instrumental jam but the band liked it so much that decided to evolve the composition, add words, and cultivate a melodic structure. Years later, the band debuted “The Moma Dance,” which features the groove segments from “Black-Eyed Katy” with added lyrics.

“Black-Eyed Katy” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B7s1O0rUEE

“The Moma Dance” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1n4Q83ShC4