"Joshua Bell is one of the world's greatest violinists. His instrument of choice is a multimillion-dollar Stradivarius. If he played it for spare change, incognito, outside a bustling Metro stop in Washington, would anyone notice?"
Read Article Here: Pearls Before Breakfast, Washington Post Article by Gene Weingarten
This is one of the most beautiful examples of our inability to stop and smell the roses. In my own work this is one of the most common questions that comes out of making things that requires a viewer who will slow down long enough to notice that what they originally perceive as one thing, is actually something quite out of the ordinary. And although I make things with the intention of capturing a passer-bys imagination, I too wonder if I had been on my way to work if I would have realized what I was listening to in this instance. I wonder how many extraordinary things we miss because we are all far "too busy."
This also brings up the question of presentation, ways of elevating art through the mechanism of presentation; a pedestal, picture frame, or stage. It gives me some comfort to think that some of the greatest works of art may be things that are never even considered, and therefore missed. To me it inspires, much like the children mentioned in this article, a wonder for discovering things regardless of presentation.
