Hello, MFA Rockstars!
So, crazy week, huh? Lots of dense readings this week have lent us
some time to percolate on the ideas of acting and non-acting, reality and
truth, power, multinational capitalism, and lots of other brain-exploding
content. I, myself, felt pretty
overwhelmed initially. But as Dr.
Fletcher pointed out yesterday, if we think of ourselves as fly paper, and let
the readings sit with us for a while, things begin to stick here and
there.
In Kirby’s article, we discussed acting versus non-acting, with
the idea of performing being “doing” by the actor. Whereas representation is something applied to the performer. To help break this down, here’s an adorably
nerdy kid from the UK (who is trying to become an actor).
Then we jumped into the world of Jean Baudrillard and his wacky discourse
on simulacrum. According to Baudrillard,
when it comes to postmodern simulation and simulacra, “It is no longer a
question of imitation, nor duplication, nor even parody. It is a question of
substituting the signs of the real for the real.” He’s not merely suggesting
that postmodern culture is artificial, because the concept of artificiality
still requires some sense of reality against which to recognize the artifice.
His point, rather, is that we have lost all ability to make sense of the
distinction between nature and artifice.
We discussed in class how the Mona
Lisa has been replicated so many times (on prints, coffee mugs, mousepads-
even a song by the name) that the larger image of the coy woman with a smile
has replaced the reality (the small painting in the Louvre behind a much larger
piece of glass). Just for fun, I did an EBay search for Mona Lisa coffee mugs, and I can’t believe how many there are.
This also got me thinking about the song, “Hallelujah” by Leonard
Cohen, which originally was a musical composition that had over 50 verses and
took five years to write. When it was finally originally recorded, the producer
thought it was a “disaster”- so “hyper serious that its’s almost satire.” Cohen
continued to tinker with the song. He re-recorded it. Then it was eventually covered by an artist
called John Cale (look him up- he’s good!) who messed with it as well,
combining verses and changing words. And then a kid in New York named Jeff
Buckley heard Cale’s version, switched out piano for guitar, and recorded the
version that made him famous.
So, Buckley is covering Cale’s version, which was a cover of
Cohen’s version. Then, Buckley tragically dies! This causes the song to become
even more popular. The song becomes even more famous as Rufus Wainwright, U2,
Bon Jovi, Bob Dylan and more cover it. Justin Timberlake sang it after the
earthquakes in Haiti. SNL’s Kate McKinnon sang it (as Hilary Clinton) as the
cold open last year after the election. And people use it in their weddings all
the time (which is weird- have they not listened to it?) But is the song “real”
anymore? Or just a copy of a copy of a copy? Do you think that a piece of art
or musical composition- like Mona Lisa
or “Hallelujah” while becoming more powerful, have somehow lost what some would
define as their artistic value? Or is it possible that Da Vinci or Cohen would
just be happy for the exposure?
Think on that for a bit, and see if anything sticks to the fly
paper of your cerebrum. I think you’ll
find the crux to be: where does Baudrillard’s idea of power of the
“legitimate/good/beautiful” live in a work of art? In its origin or in its iteration? I challenge you to find or share other kinds
of art that, via circulation, morphed into a version almost unrecognizable from
its “authentic” origins- or whose roots are just too muddy or contestable. Can you identify instances where the cover
(or recirculated version) is perhaps superior to the original? Or maybe find an artwork/object
copy-copy-copy that’s better than the original, and one where the copies are
clearly inferior? Blog away, my babies!
Dessert (aka you can skip this, but it’s delicious):
This
is my favorite “Hallelujah” cover. Raul
Esparza. Some of you may know him as ADA
Barba from Law and Order SVU. He also
played Valentine in Arcadia on Broadway!
And I think he’s dreamy and that he’ll be my second husband. (Lin Manuel will be my third.)
This
is Billboard’s List of the 12 Most Memorable “Hallelujah” Covers
Fotoshop
by Adobé- This commercial isn't real, neither are society's standards of
beauty.
Revisionist
History Podcast “Hallelujah”
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