[LESS INFO] 5 VIEWS | ADDED 14:56:44 02/03/09
http://howartandmusiccanchangetheworld.blogspot.com "How Art & Music Can Change the World" -- a lecture, art exhibit and performance event in university classrooms and bookstores. Jean Smith and David Lester of the underground literary rock duo Mecca Normal intend to inspire audiences towards considering political content in their creative self-expression. How Art & Music Can Change the World: rough outline ( 60 minutes) Abstract guitar begins. Jean enters from the back and walks through the room vocalizing wordlessly without a microphone, approaching audience members to demonstrate the power of unamplified sound and her intention to engage with individuals. The piece ends and Jean says that the song was named one of the "top ten protest songs" of that year by Canada's national newspaper, the Globe and Mail -- she reminds the audience that the song had no words. 5 minute mark: Jean and David introduce themselves, and their work, by briefly explaining their motivation to form a band that was different from the four-guys-on-stage bands that dominated the Vancouver scene in the 1980s. "In our early years I spoke from the stage," says Jean. "Between fairly literal songs about feminism, poverty, and housing issues, to encourage women to start bands with other women, as opposed to being audience members. The social movement known as Riot Grrrl began and its founding members cited Mecca Normal as an inspiration to its inception. We connected with audiences who were encouraged to, in this case, focus on feminist concerns using music and culture. This direct linearity of events inspired us to address the idea that it is not possible to change the world. We did change the world." 15 minute mark: David talks about how the way the band operates as a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) entity is as significant as what we say in the lyrics. "There is a tactile intensity, a tension between Jean and I. We are very different people and we have different skills. We each work from our strengths in booking tours and finding ways to connect with both like-minded people and those who would never find us on their own." Jean talks about the motivation to maintain a creative partnership for twenty-five years -- "It is exciting to us that we inspire artists in their work. This, to us, is a more significant exchange than generating profit or fame and status in commercial terms." PowerPoint: David talks about his ongoing poster series called Inspired Agitators which highlights the accomplishments of artists and activists engaged in social and aesthetic change. Jean asks David how he became aware of obscure artists and filmmakers in the 1960s and David talks briefly about his older brother's involvement in radical politics -- the counter-culture -- at that time. 25 minute mark: Jean and David outline different ways to present political ideas within song structures and Mecca Normal performs two songs. 35 minute mark: David talks about his graphic novel The Listener and using slides to show how a key scene is constructed in this book about memory, art and politics. Jean, the daughter of two abstract painters (her father was also an art director at an ad agency in the 1960s), talks about the self-portrait series she began at age thirteen and has continued adding to for over thirty-five years to create a body of work documenting how women and girls view themselves. Jean and David wrap up the PowerPoint art exhibit by talking about the aims of both literal and abstract political art -- in terms of intention and ability to inspire viable progressive social change. 45 minute mark: Jean talks about how her work has evolved over years of presenting it to live audiences and seeing their response. This opportunity has provided her with a basis of respecting an audience's ability to interpret art and music on their terms. The event ends with the performance of several engaging narrative pieces that employ humor with a resonating subtext of interpersonal dynamics.
