Scribbles and Noise

People say that being original is the key to becoming a great artist, but to what extent is it actually needed? In this episode, Julia draws out collective and personal conclusions on originality that she came across during her time in practicing the arts. She also touches on how originality can become a great stimulus for change and uniqueness, but how it can also become an overbearing burden for all creators.

Russian composer Igor Stravinsky is quoted to have said "a good composer does not imitate, he steals". What does this exactly mean? And what can we as creatives take away from it? In this episode of "Scribbles and Noise", Victor articulates his interpretation of the Stravinsky quote and details his experience dealing with originality in his own works.

For this episode, Julia talks about her experience as an art student preparing for university. More specifically, tips, advice, and the struggles she had managing and balancing her workload during applications season, applying to art universities in both the UK and the US.

Young composers looking to pursue their passion at conservatories are often in the dark when it comes to expectations and advice. This is because this field is a highly specialized discipline with not much literature (or YouTube videos) covering it. Although not an expert, Victor provides his own advice and two cents, reflecting on his own experience of applying and getting interviewed by different conservatories.

For this week, Julia introduces one of her favorite contemporary art pieces, "Untitled (Perfect Lovers)" by Felix Gonzalez Torres. Julia covers various aspects of this artwork, like the background context, purpose, function, and interpretation. She also provides her own interpretation of this piece in addition to the more generic definition of this piece.

In this episode, Victor provides a commentary on Morton Feldman's "Bass Clarinet and Percussion". He contextualizes the composer and the piece and analyzes unique facets of the piece such as its innovative use of notation. He additionally talks about the implications of the composer and the piece upon his own musical development and on contemporary society.

For this week's episode, Julia goes into depth on a piece called “Can't Help Myself” by Sun Yuan & Peng Yu. She analyzed the piece's background context, artistic techniques and processes as well as the multiple interpretations of the piece from varying perspectives. She also presents her personal and subjective take on this work as well. This week's contemporary art piece touches on deeper conceptual ideas and darker imagery than the previous "Comedian" by Cattelan.

Are screams music? In this episode of "Scribbbles and Noise", Victor articulates his thoughts on Hwang's landmark piece "The Labyrinth" for gayageum and sporano voice. This episode covers the piece but also Korean composers and contemporary music as a whole. Victor contextualizes "The Labyrinth" by analyzing its background and provides a commentary on the state of Korean contemporary music in relation to exposure.

In this episode, Julia will be providing a solo commentary on the piece “Comedian” by Italian artist Maurizio Cattleman. She will cover the background information of this piece as well its artistic elements. In addition, she will also briefly explain how the arts have evolved into what they are in today's society.

In this episode, Victor will be providing a solo commentary on the piece "Officium Breve" by Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag. His analysis will cover not only general points about the significance of the piece but also specific musical details within the piece. This episode is the first in the long series of entries that will be more analytical, covering both the visual arts and music. The aim of these kinds of episodes is to provide pointers to those who want to get into the field of contemporary art and the genre of contemporary music.

Most will classify contemporary music as "noise". It has got to be said that there is some substance to this claim. However, it has also got to be said that a lot of people don't listen to contemporary music the right way. In this episode of "Scribbles and Noise", Victor and Julia discuss the proper mindset and approach required for appreciating contemporary music. They draw parallels between music and visual art, but also point out notable differences between their two disciplines.

Approaching the contemporary arts is inherently difficult for non-specialist listeners. In this episode of "Scribbles and Noise", Julia expresses her thoughts on the mindset needed when accessing contemporary visual art and relatively easier ways of getting into this world. Both Julia and Victor will discuss similarities and differences in approach between visual art and music.

"Weird" is what most people would say about any of the contemporary arts. But is there any substance to that claim? In this first episode of "Scribble and Noise", a visual arts student and music student discuss the state of the contemporary arts, both in terms of public reception and the industry as a whole. When discussing this topic, the "contemporary arts" will be clearly defined and the two speakers will draw upon their experiences to justify their claims. Their conversation will encompass the various overlapping elements of the two disciplines while also discussing the differences between them.