Joe Moore
7/26/2013
Phil 109
Mass Art
This weeks Module was focused on Popular Art and Mass Art. I studied the theories of Theodor Adorno on the concept of Mass Art. He believed that capitalism would cause the production of consumers. He believed that to keep being able to sell things or many of one thing the creators of the product would have to attach it to an identity and sell that to the audience. An example of this would be the Marlboro man and smoking. The Marlboro man is shown as a cool collected figure, so people then smoke cigarettes and hoping and start feeling like the Marlboro man. In my opinion smoking is usually a sign of more stress because when I used to smoke I would do it a lot more often when I wasn’t collected or stressed out that’s how it becomes such a strong vice, but nonetheless sometimes when doing it you still feel “cool” or like you look “cool” because of the image the company and the media portrays. Adorno believed that art would become Mass produced this way. He believed that overtime it would become less about making good art or saying any kind of deeper message or feeling in your music, it would become simple and standard and lazily made to sell as much of it as fast as possible. He believed that companies would dumb you down by producing things that don’t say much or give you much to think about but would just give music that would make you comfortable and complacent, to not think and to just be a passive consumer.
This to me was very interesting because in a way I can see Adorno’s point and agree with him. He believed that they would sell you an image and you would search for music that would fit this image and fit your opinions and point of view you already have, and instead of ever challenging you or making you think about anything new you would just go to the same thing over and over again. An example of this would be a person who loves Rap but hates Country, Loves Metal but hates Pop, and so on. Many times people find an identity that is manufactured that suits their personality in someway. After the become attached to one identity it is hard for them to ever give anything a chance or think about anything outside of this identity. I can definitely see this happening a lot, even in myself from time to time. There is a lot of things I refuse to like because I don’t see it fitting my identity. This got me thinking about something we discussed in the voice thread. We talked about how people of the past a lot of the time enjoyed complex art. Even common people with hardly any education without degrees would love to read something today many of us would consider very boring or too complicated. A good example of this was given by a student in class; he talked about Civil War soldiers writing incredible poems to their loved ones and families at home. These were probably some of the least educated people yet they expressed their selves far better and in a much more complex personal way than most of us now could ever hope too. This to me is very interesting and also shows how society and culture now in a way has dumbed us down. It made me think of people in the past and the fact that I believe people then would have much less of this compulsion to form themselves around one identity or one type of thought. They most likely would view different ideas and types of art without these preconceived notions and could probably view art that didn’t fit them easier and enjoy learning about issues that seem challenging. This also made me think of another comment someone had said about how now more controversial work can be seen. This made me question Adorno because I bet many times in the past people would completely turn away from some of the ideas in art we see now and accept. This made me think of the show the Walking Dead. I think about all of the complex happening in the show. There is sex, torture, rape, killing, not to mention zombies. These are all very controversial topics and also very graphic gory depictions of things happening to people. Dr. Shaw discussed how Stravinsky’s rite of Spring had caused people to riot I think if any person in that time saw the Walking Dead or even just Television they might have a mental breakdown. The Walking Dead is one of the most watched shows in America and definitely questions many different ethical, social, and deep questions people face. This could be one good example of how mass produced art of our day still can cause us to think about important life questions.
I think usually not all but a lot of the time nowadays in our high consumer country the more popular, mainstream, and mass produced music or art is usually the less it makes you think and the more repetitive, simple, vague, shallow it becomes. He is very extreme in this point of view however. He wouldn’t suggest that popular music nowadays is repetitive and mindless, but he would say almost all music we have now is this way. In my opinion I can see how this is true. I think many country, rap, pop, indie, and even grunge (music I tend to like a lot). A lot of the time not always is very similar in topic, pattern, length, etc. This to me was eye opening because most music nowadays is very similar in at least one way and in my opinion this definitely could be a product of consumerism. Even music I like that I find to be not mainstream or at least non repetitive he still would critique. Some bands I like I feel a lot of the time don’t cover a mainstream topic and cover questions of morality, sexuality, spirituality, sociality and other of life’s deepest issues and questions Adorno still would say they were bad because they still might fit the same rhythmic patterns length and set up other songs have. This is another area I would disagree with Adorno. Although these songs follow a normal pattern they still definitely are challenging and make a person think about things they normally wouldn’t. A song “Skinned” by Blind Melon was written in the 90’s and they would be considered a “Grunge” band, is about what it is like being a serial killer and discusses the mind state of a murderer. Some lyrics: “And when I realize that this skin I’m in Hey, it isn’t mine and when will the thrill be too much meat for me to find anymore.” This song discusses questions I feel like many songs or have never discussed or try not to think about. Also a kazoo and banjo are used in the song. Instruments that now are hardly ever used. Maybe because this song is so direct and not very obscure and long more people would be forced to think about these questions that they would never think about while listening to a long instrumental piece. This could be an example of a song that follows the traditional three to four minute length and pattern of many other but still can be different and challenging. Music also is very subjective. Someone could be listening to Stravinsky’s piece with much training and still might not be getting the same value, inspiration, and thought another person might get while listening to something Adorno would criticize.
Although I agree with Adorno that capitalism has affected art, and definitely in some instances caused art to be less challenging and thought provoking, I think he is too extreme in his judgment. There still could be mainstream music that causes people to think and feel different things today. Also music is very subjective and at some point in tiem Stravinsky’s piece could be mainstream and My Chemical Romance’s piece would shatter the norms and would open a whole new area of art and expression. I think by keeping an open mind and heart to many different types of art whether it’s complex, or mass produced is the best way to find inspiration, happiness, and thoughts through art.