Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Is John Zorn Sexist?
CUNY professor Ellie Hisama and composer John Zorn don’t talk to one another anymore. Hisama thinks Zorn has gotten away “scot free” with writing overtly sexist and racist music; Zorn believes he’s simply following the creative path he needs to follow.
Hisama presents her views in “John Zorn and the Postmodern Condition,” an essay recently published in an anthology called “Locating East Asia in Western Art Music” issued by Wesleyan University Press. After summarizing Zorn’s achievements, Hisama describes her own exposure to his music during the 1980s while attending performances at the Knitting Factory and Performing Garage. Then, beginning with his 1987 album “Spillane,” Hisama charts Zorn’s increasingly disturbing use of sexist and racist imagery – both in his music and his album illustrations.
There is the female scream opening “Spillane;” the “Asiophilia” of “Forbidden Fruit” wherein “white men pursue East Asian women as fantastically exoticized, stereotyped objects, models of demure Oriental deportment” (73); the “visual, textual, and sonic manifestations” in the same work that “contribute to an understanding of the song as a narrative in which an Asian woman functions as a soft, infantile, exotic object of male sexual desires” (78). There are the black and white liner photos in “Torture Garden” depicting women performing sadomasochistic acts and undergoing various forms of torture; a color picture depicting “a ponytailed schoolgirl whose flayed face has been incised across the forehead to expose her skull; a soldier grasps her shoulders while he licks the iris of her bulging eyeball” (77). Hisama goes on to remark viz. “Torture Garden” that the “male-identified figures (the voice and the saxophone [Zorn’s instrument]) can be heard as having an emotional outlet and freedom to play and do whatever they want, the women remain mute and thus uncomplaining about whatever is done to them” (79-80).
Hisama knows Zorn’s music and imagery have gotten him into trouble with concert venues and record companies, and she quotes at length Zorn’s responses to these accusations. The following comments, concerning “Torture Garden,” are typical of his remarks as quoted by Hisama.
"[They’re] coming to me, and . . . they’re saying, “This is wrong. This is not progressive. This is Neanderthal. This happened years ago and you should know better than this. You shouldn’t be doing this. This shouldn’t be out there.” Things are getting confused. It’s a scary time. Nevertheless, I feel right now is a real strong time for me. I’m figuring a lot of [expletive] out, drawing my moral line, and saying, “[Expletive] you. I don’t need this. I’ve got to follow my artistic vision, whether you think it’s repulsive or anti-women or anti-Asian or whatever. I have to follow it through." (81)
While I’m not sure Hisama makes her case, Zorn must entertain the possibility his work plays a supporting role in preserving social structures that abuse certain genders and races. He must then decide whether such structures are a fruitful part of his artistic vision.
posted by David Salvage
9:34 PM
CDs vs audio DVDs vs downloads
I've argued before that the CD format is largely obsolete; once I receive one, I rip it to AAC or MP3 format on my computer, transfer it to my iPod, and I'm all set to go. My CDs get filed away, and I'm sure they would make great coasters or mobiles.
But not everyone does that. A lot of people still listen to their CDs at home, in their cars, on their portable CD players, etc. There are also audio DVDs available for some albums (one example that comes to mind is the Flux Quartet's great performance of Feldman's String Quartet #2, all 6+ hours of it), but I'm not clear if audio DVDs will play correctly on most computer DVD drives, nor am I aware that the audio tracks can readily be extracted and converted to MP3 format (I have software to to this for noncommercial DVDs, but if the commercial audio DVDs are copy-protected, this is not an option).
Certainly, downloadable music is the way to go. It's environmentally-friendly, easy, and bypasses the ripping process. However, I'm wondering if most audiences for new music would be willing to bypass the CD entirely and go to MP3 downloading, or even consider purchasing more pricey, but higher-resolution, audio DVDs in place of CDs.
There's been an interesting thread going on the Why Patterns mailing list about just this issue, and as a result I've had a good dialogue with Glenn Freeman of OgreOgress Productions over several e-mails. He is very likely abandoning the CD format entirely for the forthcoming For Feldman release in favor of direct MP3 downloading and a limited-release audiophile DVD version. The truth is that it is nearly impossible to realize a profit from CDs when you're an independent music label with limited distribution systems. For-fee downloads are more profitable. Same with higher-priced, limited edition audio DVDs. Glenn is also worried about music piracy.
I put my own thoughts down in my blog, but would like to get input from others specifically on this issue:
- If you have a choice as to how your music is to be distributed, would you choose CD or downloadable MP3, and would 100 or more of your potential audience be willing to pay a much higher price for an audiophile-quality DVD of your music?
posted by David Toub
1:35 PM
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Carlos Rafael Rivera
Hello!
I am glad to join thanks to the encouragement of Alex Shapiro (fine composer that she is - I spent all morning looping her Myspace tracks!)
If you don't know about Myspace, check it out! You can uplink your music, pictures, recordings, etc.
Here is mine: http://www.myspace.com/riveramusic
My personal site is: http://www.riveramusic.net
I look forward to hearing from you and exchanging ideas.
posted by Carlos R. Rivera
1:50 PM
Monday, October 31, 2005
Distorting Arts Funding in San Antonio
Via ArtsJournal.com, I see that Roddy Stinson, apparently a regular columnist at San Antonio's "Express-News," is all bent out of shape over an increase in San Antonio increased funding for the Arts and what he sees as the failure of a new Arts community foundation called "theFund." But let's take a look at what he's saying. Before I go further, I should clarify that I've never heard of Stinson or theFund before, so my argument is based solely on his article, the San Antonio city government website, and thefundsa.org.
First, Stinson clearly doesn't think that the government should be in the business of funding the Arts -- I disagree, but I respect his position and his right to it, and I'll save arguing against it for another day. He is dismayed that San Antonio's FY'06 budget includes a 37% increase in arts funding, which totals out to $4.9 Million. In an effort to inflate the appearance of the total, he observes that it "represents 12 percent of projected revenue from the city's hotel/motel tax collections." But a quick check of the budget summary provided by the City of San Antiono reveals that "The FY 2006 Proposed Budget appropriation for All Funds is $1.721 billion." The Arts budget makes up 0.28% of the total FY'06 budget.
Note additionally that, for example, the proposed Golf Fund budget is $6.4 Million -- true, much of that is golf revenue, but the Golf Fund faces a $688,642 shortfall, which was reduced from a projected $795,000 shortfall. One of the changes that helped with that reduction was an increase in golf-cart rental fees "by $2 for 18 holes (from $21.50 to
$23.50) and by $1 for nine holes (from $12.50 to $13.50)." Surely whether we think that the government should subsidize the Arts and Golf or not, we can agree that there's a _stronger_ case to be made for funding the arts.
Stinson then turns his attention to theFund. True, $203,926 when compared with $4.9 Million doesn't seem like much money -- it's just over 4%. But there are several important factors that Stinson ignores:
1. This first $203,926 was raised during the first 4 months of the theFund's active fund raising efforts. (Note as well that the $4.9 Million represents 12 months) Building a fund raising program takes time -- donors have to be persuaded that they should give their money to you instead of somebody else, and since they are already overwhelmed with solicitations it's not easy or fast. $203,926 sounds like a pretty good start, actually.
2. theFund's primary fundraising tool is payroll deductions through participating companies, which means a high volume of small gifts, and means only getting those small gifts from people whose employer things theFund is important enough to set up participation. Again, 200K sounds pretty good, especially for the first attempt.
3. Furthermore, the rule of thumb for funding sources is that the vast bulk of dollars raised comes from a small number of large gifts, and the big annual appeals and direct marketing programs are used primarily as a tool for collecting a list of donors with interest in your program. Then your research department culls the larger gifts for people who are actually rich, does research on them, and passes the list on to the frontline fundraisers who then start cultivating major gifts. It's far too early to tell whether theFund can raise big money, since cultivating the major gifts takes time and staffing resources. And according to executive director Ron Rubbo "We had no heavy-duty campaign in that area [soliciting major gifts from wealthy individuals]. . . We focused on workplace giving."
The bulk of Stinson's scorn is reserved for the fact that only $11,195 came from sources other than payroll deductions, and "Only $2,100 was spontaneously contributed by arts supporters who responded to campaign advertising and visited the Web site." He seems to think these small numbers disproves the notion that "Surely it would be successful. Surely the town's arts-loving citizens would respond. Surely the arts/culture-industry's bureaucrats, flacks, friends and well-heeled admirers would step up to the passing plate and toss in enough cash to demonstrate their commitment to the cause." But if Stinson knew anything about Development, or had actually listened to what Ron Rubbo was telling him, he would know that people don't give unless they are asked (and a TV ad doesn't count -- I suspect those ads were really more for PR than for solicitation.) and that the big bucks that would support the theory will only arrive when a robust Major Gifts program is out there soliciting major gifts, which Rubbo says they haven't started doing yet. . . Presumably because they've only been fundraising for 4 months.
The city budget and theFund appear together in this column so that Stinson can "prove" that the people who say they want funding for the Arts aren't willing to pay for it themselves and so resort to scamming the public. Of course his arguments don't hold up to scrutiny -- and I'm sure there are plenty of holes I haven't addressed here. We should certainly have robust public discussion of Arts Funding, (and I'm prepared to be wrong and/or not get what I want) but can we please have the discussion led by people who aren't hacks?
posted by Galen H. Brown
3:47 PM
Sunday, October 30, 2005
women in the composing world
After the recent storm of commentary on the representation of women composers here and in concert programming, I’d like to offer a few meditations on being a woman composer. It’s an issue that I can’t help but be aware of and devote a least a little thought to. Of course, I don’t pretend to speak for all woman composers…
I would rather be identified as composer, just plain old composer without reference to my gender. I see myself as part of the greater lineage of Western composers and as such would rather have my music presented alongside that of Bartok, Ligeti, Webern, and my contemporaries, than set off in a “women composers” program. My compositional concerns and goals are not any different than a man’s. The only difference comes in navigating a male-dominated scene, and that’s not a music-specific issue. Although I’ll admit that I would rather have my music presented in all-female concerts than not at all.
I greatly resent identification on musical genres, syntax, etc with feminine/masculine qualities first because I believe that these distinctions are inadequate and secondly because the feminine most always is aligned with whatever is considered weak and of less value, thereby perpetuating destructive cultural stereotypes.
Nonetheless, being a woman composer does have a significant meaning. As an undergrad, most of my high-level theory classes, as well as my electronic music studio classes, were male dominated. I was often the only woman in the room. I was informed that I was the first woman to pursue my school’s Music and Technology major since its inception 10 years before. These are facts a lone woman can hardly ignore. Luckily for me, being the odd woman more often pushed me to be more assertive and make my presence felt. At NEC, there are more women, maybe 3-6 (including me) per class, but most of them are younger.
I’m not sure why this is so. None of my composition teachers has ever indicated that they thought less of my work because of my gender. I don’t feel like I am taken less seriously because I’m a woman. But… there are significant differences in the way women and men are socialized, and these differences conspire to keep women out of the center even when no one intentionally marginalizes them. I don’t give any credence to those who would attribute every male/female difference in behavior, thought, etc to biology. I believe that socialization has more to do with gender behavior and identity than anything else. And in either case, biology isn’t destiny, a fact our society and culture relies on.
The women in my classes (myself included) don’t contribute as much to discussions. I personally push myself to speak up at least once in every session, and I know that other women make similar efforts. (As for my presence on the blog and forum, well, I’m a grad student with a 25 hr/week job…) I don’t feel like my comments are sneered at or automatically dismissed. And yet, with a male dominated class, interruption and blurting out of thoughts is the order of the day. (I’m not saying this out of adherance to stereotypes. It’s just been my observation.) These things don’t come as easy to women, who are more strongly socialized to be polite, wait their turn, wait to be called on for contributions rather than leaping into the fray. Just last week I spoke up to add to a discussion of the merits of Varese, and a guy interrupted me when not two words had left my mouth. I’m not going to pin it on gender bias. The guys interrupt each other all the time, and don’t seem stymied by it in the least. But I think women interpret it differently (or at least I do).
So yeah, the simple fact that the composing world is male-dominated and thus runs according to their styles of socialization can be a stumbling block for women. What do we do about it? I’m not sure. The only thing I can offer is the fact that I’ve only been successful in pushing myself to jump right in after hearing this advice from my sister’s (male) composition teacher: “just go ahead and interrupt the guys!”
Now back to my regular activities as a grad student: composing and analyzing music.
posted by Stefanie Lubkowski
10:12 PM
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