May 4ths

This one is derived from a 5/4/2021 riff where I had referenced an art gallery in the Chicago Loop that exhibits and sells the works of art students. I had always liked going there to check out the new art. Sometimes there would be interesting pieces that had a je ne sais quoi about them.

The phrase that generated the rhythm was "Gallery in the Loop" which has 16th notes in it and I immediately thought of the "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" (or Bryan Ferry's "39 Steps") groove with the stop-and-go bass. In a peripheral way, it is also Music For Places, an art gallery in the Chicago Loop.

I'm reminded of that art gallery in the loop (on Randolph across from the CCC [Chicago Cultural Center]) that exhibited art that was made by art students and various other "amateur" artists. Some of it was really interesting because it was de-skilled—where the errors in the artwork made it interesting--a little smear here and there or the characters weren't painted correctly—it just had a certain charm to it. Ultimately, the value of art comes from [life] its endearment.

 Gallery in the Loop
 At the CCC
A little smear here and there
The characters had a certain charm
The value of art
Comes from [life]

At The CCC by meta4s  

At the CCC (5/4/2024) by meta4s

With brass and strings:

 

5/4/2006

They’re staging a performance of John Cage’s As Slow As Possible (ASAP) in Haberstadt, Germany. It will last 639 years. The piece begins with a rest lasting 20 months. Each movement lasts 71 years. The piece is more about time than music. (This is the prime example of the 4th dimension in art: that which puts philosophical positions in the foreground.) Also a good example of expectation and the varieties of “randomly” generated experience, i.e. not knowing when something is going to happen and the surprise at synchronicity.

5/4/2021

I read an article recently about Ron Wood’s exhibition of his paintings. He’s had some health issues as well. I think the work is fine and the critics need to go easy on him. Again, people can’t fathom that a musician can do art as well as music. As I recall lots of music fans in the 70s made art about their favorite artists—mine a pastel of Jeff Beck, circa 1976 of the pose on Blow By Blow. (Somebody’s got a leaf blower...I wonder what pitch that is).#riff