Music Thread: This Is America (NSFW)

[DoomYoshi]

Does a political debate on TV count then?

Rhetoric is an art. You would know that if you had done a PPE instead of going to China.

[mrswdk]

PPE is for puffs.

[Symmetry]

It reminds me of a visit I once went on to an art school, where we were invited to analyze a painting of two people sat by a window and come up with all kinds of statements like 'the man is younger, and has a cat on his lap, which appears to be making him more uncomfortable than his friend, but he leaves it there anyway, which is a commentary on the materialism of younger generations'. Could the artist have just painted the guy with a cat on his lap? No, if you think that you are obviously not deep enough to comprehend art.

Childish Gambino is holding a gun, and is black, and keeps saying 'America' - OMGZ it's the video society needs right now! So deep!

It's not about what the artist means.. it's about what you see and the conversation it leads to. I think the whole point to apreciate art is to over analyze it. Yes, there are meanings, but often the artists just open a door to your own imagination. What you are describing here... is probably just what the person telling you was feeling, finding excuses to his thoughts through the painting. You were not learning about the painting, but about the person commenting. And if that person didn't come up with that himself, it's because he's the shallow one.

So if all that matters is what you are able to infer from the art, regardless of whether or not the artist meant it, then is there even any such thing as good or bad art? If I can infer endless meaning from a piece of tissue on the floor then that presumably is good art. Is the only thing that determines whether it is art or not whether the creator intended it to be art?

You can ponder a tissue on the floor and have many deep thoughts about life (especially with the aid of psychedelics) but how likely is it that you will? The chances are overwhelming that you will just pass it by without comment and quite possibly without even awareness of its existence. If you're looking for a way to quantify the quality of art, it's the probability that you will stop and think about the issues, over and above whatever probability inheres in your natural curiosity.

Indeed, and it's largely a fallacy to try to read the mind of an artist. You can never know exactly what it was that an artist intended. You can take some pretty educated guesses though and use the piece of art as a medium.

That's one of the reasons I think this was a successful piece. Sure, some people voted to hate everything about it, but at least they engaged with it.

Also, are there a lot of tissues on the floor where you live?

[Dukasaur]

It reminds me of a visit I once went on to an art school, where we were invited to analyze a painting of two people sat by a window and come up with all kinds of statements like 'the man is younger, and has a cat on his lap, which appears to be making him more uncomfortable than his friend, but he leaves it there anyway, which is a commentary on the materialism of younger generations'. Could the artist have just painted the guy with a cat on his lap? No, if you think that you are obviously not deep enough to comprehend art.

Childish Gambino is holding a gun, and is black, and keeps saying 'America' - OMGZ it's the video society needs right now! So deep!

It's not about what the artist means.. it's about what you see and the conversation it leads to. I think the whole point to apreciate art is to over analyze it. Yes, there are meanings, but often the artists just open a door to your own imagination. What you are describing here... is probably just what the person telling you was feeling, finding excuses to his thoughts through the painting. You were not learning about the painting, but about the person commenting. And if that person didn't come up with that himself, it's because he's the shallow one.

So if all that matters is what you are able to infer from the art, regardless of whether or not the artist meant it, then is there even any such thing as good or bad art? If I can infer endless meaning from a piece of tissue on the floor then that presumably is good art. Is the only thing that determines whether it is art or not whether the creator intended it to be art?

You can ponder a tissue on the floor and have many deep thoughts about life (especially with the aid of psychedelics) but how likely is it that you will? The chances are overwhelming that you will just pass it by without comment and quite possibly without even awareness of its existence. If you're looking for a way to quantify the quality of art, it's the probability that you will stop and think about the issues, over and above whatever probability inheres in your natural curiosity.

Indeed, and it's largely a fallacy to try to read the mind of an artist. You can never know exactly what it was that an artist intended. You can take some pretty educated guesses though and use the piece of art as a medium.

That's one of the reasons I think this was a successful piece. Sure, some people voted to hate everything about it, but at least they engaged with it.

Also, are there a lot of tissues on the floor where you live?

Apparently there are where mrswdk lives.

[mrswdk]

Clearly neither of you really understand the point I was trying to make and I'd be better served just waiting for betiko to reply to me.

[2dimes]

Tissue huh?

If I see litter on my lawn I sometimes kick it off. If I see litter while fishing I pick it up to put it in a garbage container. Sometimes I will pick it up off other people's lawns or public areas for disposal while walking but there is too much for me to keep up with.

This song played on the radio while I was driving. It was interesting to have heard it here before hearing it on the radio. I paid more attention to it probably because of that.

[Symmetry]

Tissue huh?

If I see litter on my lawn I sometimes kick it off. If I see litter while fishing I pick it up to put it in a garbage container. Sometimes I will pick it up off other people's lawns or public areas for disposal while walking but there is too much for me to keep up with.

This song played on the radio while I was driving. It was interesting to have heard it here before hearing it on the radio. I paid more attention to it probably because of that.

What did you think of it without the video?

I kinda think that it's not really a great song in itself. It's good, but not great, but it's less without the video.

[2dimes]

Since I watched the video a few times it was on my mind.

I kind of enjoyed the singing part, seems like it could be a song on it's own.

[Symmetry]

Since I watched the video a few times it was on my mind.

I kind of enjoyed the singing part, seems like it could be a song on it's own.

It sticks with you. I was kinda interested in what you said because, growing up, the video was secondary to the music. With this, it's the same thing. Listening on the radio seems like only half of it. Like watching the video on mute.

[2dimes]

I like Danny and am amused that he put "underpants" in the lyrics.

[thegreekdog]

Related...

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/23 ... apologizes

[mrswdk]

Related...

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2018/5/23 ... apologizes

It is time for the international community to facilitate a regime change. We cannot continue to stand by and watch as the American government brutalises its black citizens.