I began my research this summer with the idea of finding a rich history of performing arts aesthetics that would unlock the answers to my questions and concerns regarding the public consumption of contemporary art. I hoped I could find aesthetic theories that could shine direct spotlights on the errors in concert music presentation and, therefore, provide answers for the resulting lack of participation in contemporary concert music. However, I have been attending several concerts during my time in Ontario as a fellow this year at the Toronto Summer Music Festival, and it is my experience with observing the performances that I feel I have learned the most about presenting my artform. I have discovered that it is more essential for me to learn about art by experiencing it, rather than reading about it or philosophizing on it.
At the beginning of the summer, I came up with one attempted solution for getting audiences involved in the artistic process of contemporary concert music by providing more attention-attractive music history in live performance settings through the presentation of archival media such as interviews with artists, photographs, letters, and manuscripts. I was successful with this pairing with popular concert artists who are considered public figures, such as John Cage. With his controversial musical writing and public facing personality, Cage was the perfect suitor for this public demonstration of history before and during my concerts. In the archives, he speaks of a philosophy of music that is unlike any other and his “history” that I found is more focused on the artistic experience than anything else. His speaking and writing is almost like poetry.
I will continue to research Cage in this way as I think it is a very interesting mode of presenting his material, but unfortunately I have found that this is not a map of inquiry I can continue in order to research many other artists. However, to use this for the study of several other artists I present alongside Cage, this mode of inquiry has malfunctioned. My idea of combining the mediums of music and historical artifacts has come into question now that I have found that many contemporary artists, whether living or passed, were or are almost completely obscure publicly, without much in the way of historical materials to gather and line up next to the art.
As I question my mediums of presentation, I have returned to my initial research questions. My summer research initially was focused on Cage and visual art, and although I am interested in continuing this line of inquiry, I would like to add, because of my research and experience with the history of Cage, the study of poetry and how it can interact with contemporary concert music. What all this boils down to is although I am interested in audience participation, I believe I can achieve this through the study and presentation of art forms, rather than explaining how music can be experienced through my study of aesthetics.