Interesting experiment on art and perception...

[dre]

Someone sent me this on facebook, and i thought it was interesting...

A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that 1,100 people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.

Three minutes went by, and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace, and stopped for a few seconds, and then hurried up to meet his schedule.

A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping, and continued to walk.

A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.

The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried, but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally, the mother pushed hard, and the child continued to walk, turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.

In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money, but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.

No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the most talented musicians in the world. He had just played one of the most intricate pieces ever written, on a violin worth $3.5 million dollars.

Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston where the seats averaged $100.

This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of a social experiment about perception, taste, and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?

One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?

Edited February 17, 2012 by dre

[cybercoma]

This is brilliant. Thanks for sharing.

Is it true though?

Edited February 18, 2012 by cybercoma

[cybercoma]

Verified: http://www.snopes.com/music/artists/bell.asp

[Guest Manny]

It doesn't seem like an important critique of our culture. I love to listen to classical music, and I do appreciate when I hear a talented musician playing, anywhere. But the fact is, if I have a meeting or important schedule to keep, I've got to make my train.

Little kids don't think about the future or their obligations, they live in the moment. But we have obligations that if unmet will have unpleasant consequences. That's what mature adults know.

The moral of the story is, everything has a right place and time.

[bush_cheney2004]

It doesn't seem like an important critique of our culture. I love to listen to classical music, and I do appreciate when I hear a talented musician playing, anywhere. But the fact is, if I have a meeting or important schedule to keep, I've got to make my train.

Agreed...there is nothing particularly significant about the professional credentials of the posing street artist in this scenario. I find that the expectation of a different passerby reaction to be very presumptuous.

[Moonlight Graham]

It doesn't seem like an important critique of our culture. I love to listen to classical music, and I do appreciate when I hear a talented musician playing, anywhere. But the fact is, if I have a meeting or important schedule to keep, I've got to make my train.

Little kids don't think about the future or their obligations, they live in the moment. But we have obligations that if unmet will have unpleasant consequences. That's what mature adults know.

I think there's some truth to what you're saying. Most are on their way to work. For me, I don't have time to stop to listen to a busker on my way to work. They should try the same experiment on a Saturday evening or Sunday afternoon in some busy downtown section, and make it on the street outside or in a busy mall.

[dre]

It doesn't seem like an important critique of our culture. I love to listen to classical music, and I do appreciate when I hear a talented musician playing, anywhere. But the fact is, if I have a meeting or important schedule to keep, I've got to make my train.

Right, that was essentially the point being made, and thats exactly why they chose rush hour to do it. You wont stop and smell the flowers and neither will most other people, unless things are marketed just right.

Edited February 18, 2012 by dre

[cybercoma]

And the point is this wasn't just some busker. It was one of the greatest violinists in the world, playing one of the most complex pieces of classical music ever written, on a Stradivarius violin made in 1713.

[Guest Manny]

Right, that was essentially the point being made, and thats exactly why they chose rush hour to do it. You wont stop and smell the flowers and neither will most other people, unless things are marketed just right.

Sounds inherently obvious to me. Or does it mean, in order to get people's attention to the point they would be late for work, you've got to do something a lot more extreme. Go for the gross-out, that always seems to work. Or full frontal nudity.

[Guest Manny]

And the point is this wasn't just some busker. It was one of the greatest violinists in the world, playing one of the most complex pieces of classical music ever written, on a Stradivarius violin made in 1713.

Most people wouldn't have the ear to know that. Hell, most people are listening to tunes by bands like Godsmack, not some guy who lived over 300 yars ago and wore a white wig. That's specialty.

Reminds me of a commercial from long ago, actually. There's a biker dude standing in front of the camera and he hears some classical music. Then he stops and says "Wait! Isn't that... Vivaldi?"

<Insert LOL icon>

[bush_cheney2004]

Most people wouldn't have the ear to know that. Hell, most people are listening to tunes by bands like Godsmack, not some guy who lived over 300 yars ago and wore a white wig. That's specialty.

'Zactly..."Pop music" fundamentally rejects such elitism by definition. Does it have beat we can dance to?

[WWWTT]

Heres a better experiment.

Maybe this prodige should have packed his stratavarious and gone to famine stricken Ethiopa(there are many other places,this is just one example) and played his violin then count how many malnurished babies that suffered a horrific death from starvation in their mothers arms compared to how many people actually stood there,listened and then applauded.

I'm sorry this sounds graffic.But the initial experiment was to cause a sence of shock,and in this world there are much more important things that go unnoticed.

WWWTT

[Bonam]

Most people wouldn't have the ear to know that.

Indeed. Moreover, we're talking a busy metro station. There's lots of background noise, trains passing, people walking, talking, etc. Not exactly the setting to notice that a piece of classical music is of a particularly high quality. To make someone spend time on something, especially when they are busy with something else, you first have to catch their attention. A person playing a violin in a metro station is very typical, you see that all the time, nothing attention-grabbing there, and the high quality of the playing would not have even been perceptible for most people given the environment.

I'd say that the only conclusion one can draw from this experiment is that playing a violin in a metro station, even doing so very proficiently, is not something that will grab and hold most people's attention. Duh.

[GostHacked]

'Zactly..."Pop music" fundamentally rejects such elitism by definition. Does it have beat we can dance to?

Pop actually empbraces elitism by design.

[WWWTT]

'Zactly..."Pop music" fundamentally rejects such elitism by definition. Does it have beat we can dance to?

Actualy I think punk rock is a little more afirmative when it comes to rejecting the establishment.

As far as the beat thing goes,that was introduced through the African influence in American/African music.

And to this date I believe Jazz is the only discipline that is recognized to have any elite status

WWWTT

[Guest Manny]

Pop actually empbraces elitism by design.

How do you mean. The term "pop" itself refers to popular culture.

[cybercoma]

One of the big arguments I've read, not just here, is that people would be late for work, so they didn't stop. The trains in NY run every 2-5 mins during rush hour. That means, if you stopped and listened to the entire piece it would hold you up less than 10 minutes (the pieces is just over 5 mins long from start to finish and that's assuming you caught it from the very beginning). Most people get to work 10-15 minutes ahead of schedule, if you're responsible and especially if you live in a big city where there can be complications that hold you up. So my point is that people likely would not have been late if they would have stopped and listened for even a few minutes, since the trains run so frequently that you would not have to wait any longer than 5 minutes for another one.

Edited March 3, 2012 by cybercoma

[eyeball]

One of the big arguments I've read, not just here, is that people would be late for work, so they didn't stop. The trains in NY run every 2-5 mins during rush hour. That means, if you stopped and listened to the entire piece it would hold you up less than 10 minutes (the pieces is just over 5 mins long from start to finish and that's assuming you caught it from the very beginning). Most people get to work 10-15 minutes ahead of schedule, if you're responsible and especially if you live in a big city where there can be complications that hold you up. So my point is that people likely would not have been late if they would have stopped and listened for even a few minutes, since the trains run so frequently that you would not have to wait any longer than 5 minutes for another one.

I think if these people had a better idea of what they were walking past you would have seen a different result.

Try running this little experiment with Justine Beiber or Mick Jagger and see what happens.

[cybercoma]

I think if these people had a better idea of what they were walking past you would have seen a different result.

Try running this little experiment with Justine Beiber or Mick Jagger and see what happens.

That's the point. Isn't it? People relate to signs and symbols, rather than the reality they supposedly represent.

Edited March 3, 2012 by cybercoma

[RB]

Someone sent me this on facebook, and i thought it was interesting...

Someone sent me this on facebook, and i thought it was interesting...

Someone sent me this on facebook, and i thought it was interesting...

hmmm I can only say that percentage of population that can relate to classical music is low, 1 in 9 ever saw one classical performance. Here is some stats How Many People Participate in Arts and Cultural Activities?

So if we disect that stats given, only about 100 of the passerby would have been familiar or vaguely familiar with classical music to recognise the pieces and out of those probably the 6 that stopped to listen would have played classical music, and know a thing of beauty.

The folks who actually seen, appreciate, know and play classical music might not be the demographics travelling on the subway.

To know a thing of beauty you would have to seen it before, or you would know its face if you are looking, or have an instinct like the young kids.