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Listening Report: Meredith Monk

 

Meredith Monk is just testing the limits and I’m loving it. I can clearly see that she is having fun with what she’s doing. And what is really fascinating about this for me, is that she did not just do it "because she had no other choice" or "because this had been the aim all along". No, she is professionally trained in Music and Theatre and chose to try something new. I feel like this is where the difference for many artists lies (and in the quality of their work). Take Jackson Pollock, for example, he was also trained in art and then moved to the drip art style. What I'm trying to say is that these people didn't just start out with "weird and unusual", they had to get to that point. And having a history and being trained in classical art is oftentimes what makes their crazy stuff so good and popular.

 

I think this is why I feel so much authenticity when I watch the videos of Meredith Monk. She not only disentangled herself from classic structures of music, theatre, and dance but manages to make her fascination with it contagious. I feel motivated to try and create new things just from looking at her work.

 

Take, for example, the piece shown in the little documentary about her, with the people walking around her in a group with hats and airplanes on sticks. It makes me laugh, it fascinates me, and it gives me the urge to get up and do something. Even if I cannot grasp the full concept of this particular piece, it managed to do something with me, and that is so powerful.

 

Additionally, I think her trying out new things, and testing limits and possibilities, is her way of asking all of us to do the same thing. Not necessarily in music but in every part of life. She shows me how fun different can be because I feel like we tend to forget about it in our everyday lives. Different can be scary but the possibility of getting as much joy as Monk does from daring to do it motivates me a lot.

 

I am very glad this seminar introduced me to her. Thinking back on the other response papers I have written so far; she teaches me to be more accepting of the things I initially don’t like or find rather disturbing. I think we should all carry a little Meredith Monk Motivation within us everywhere we go – it will make everything a lot better.

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