Category: Let's talk
...I'll let this article speak for itself:
Musician in DC Metro: Perception
THE SITUATION
In Washington , DC , at a Metro Station, on a cold January morning in
2007, this man with a violin played six Bach pieces for about 45
minutes. During that time, approximately 2,000 people went through the
station, most of them on their way to work. After about 3 minutes, a
middle-aged man noticed that there was a musician playing. He slowed
his pace and stopped for a few seconds, and then he hurried on to meet
his schedule.
About 4 minutes later:
The violinist received his first dollar. A woman threw money in the
hat and, without stopping, continued to walk.
At 6 minutes:
A young man leaned against the wall to listen to him, then looked at
his watch and started to walk again.
At 10 minutes:
A 3-year old boy stopped, but his mother tugged him along hurriedly.
The kid stopped to look at the violinist again, but the mother pushed
hard and the child continued to walk, turning his head the whole time.
This action was repeated by several other children, but every parent -
without exception - forced their children to move on quickly.
At 45 minutes:
The musician played continuously. Only 6 people stopped and listened
for a short while. About 20 gave money but continued to walk at their
normal pace. The man collected a total of $32.
After 1 hour:
He finished playing and silence took over. No one noticed and no one
applauded. There was no recognition at all.
No one knew this, but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the
greatest musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate
pieces ever written, with a violin worth $3.5 million dollars. Two
days before, Joshua Bell sold-out a theatre in Boston where the seats
averaged $100 each to sit and listen to him play the same music.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell, playing incognito in the D.C.
Metro Station, was organized by the Washington Post as part of a
social experiment about perception, taste and people's priorities.
This experiment raised several questions:
*In a common-place environment, at an inappropriate hour, do we
perceive beauty?
*If so, do we stop to appreciate it?
*Do we recognize talent in an unexpected context?
One possible conclusion reached from this experiment could be this:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best
musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever
written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made...
I think this is largely contextual. I'm only one person, but I can tell you that when I'm in a hurry to go somewhere, I don't focus on much other than those things around me that effect my getting where I'm going. I mean, if I'm in a hurry, which most people are durring rush hour in a subway system, yes, street musicians are tuned out. There is also the demographic factor to consider here. Sorry, because this is going to involve stereotyping, but I also don't agree that all stereotypes are bad. Anyway, I am sure the tickets were quite expensive and that many people of a higher financial class use such events to be the cool guy in the room who happens to enjoy classical music. They can afford to shell out big bucks for such events, and can also afford a car service to cart their rich asses to work every day. So it's quite likely that the people who take the subway system in DC are a different breed of people than the ones who attend such concerts.
I agree with Scott, and have a few more things to add.
What did the experimenters expect? Doing this in a busy place, at a busy time, when people have deadlines to meet, and are dependant on trains that run at given times?
Second, this article makes several assumptions. It calls the song, "some of the finest music ever written," and also the violin, "the most beautiful instrument ever made." But, as the cliche saying goes, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This article leaves very little room for people's personal taste. Some enjoy classical music, some find it boring. Some love the sounds of a violin, some don't care for it. So, if you like classical music, and/or violins, you're going to be a heck of a lot more likely to stop, even if you're in a hurry. Since I don't particularly enjoy that genre of music, I myself would not have been inclined to stop, deadline or not. Though to play that kind of music on that instruement does require definite talent, and I do admire that.
And one thing the article didn't mention is that children, by their curious nature, are definitely more likely to stop and listen, or ask questions. I do think parents should respect and honor that curiosity, when possible. It might have been a good learning experience for the mother to have allowed her child to stop and listen, maybe even ask questions of the musician.
Just some thoughts.
Implicit in this article is also the assumption that Americans are less cultured and more boorish than the refined Europeans. The article reeks of this.
I'd quite agree with Alisha, as it took years for some of the gratest musicians in the world to get recognition but putting someone in that setting with complete chaos is a little bit pointless, bringing to mind the question of whether this was carried out propperly.
I agree with what has been said here. choosing to do an experiment in that particular setting was a rather dumb idea, as far as I'm concerned. logic, people, logic.
I also agree wit what has been said here. While the more perceptive among us may slow down to see what's going on, if we do have somewhere to be, we're not going to miss our train just to hear an unknown musician play. I'm not a big fan of classical music, so I didn't recognize the name at all. If it was a band I did know of, and I liked them, I would probably recognize their music and slow down to check it out. But, if I had somewhere to be, I wouldn't stay there for the whole hour listening to it. I mean, it's not every day that someone tries to hold a concert in a subway station. If I want to see a concert I'll buy the tickets and go. It's a more focused environment where you can fully enjoy what you're hearing and hopefully get what you paid for.
If you just look at it from a purely scientific standpoint, the experiment was flawed. The dependent variable was beauty, well what is beauty. Some people, just to stick with classical music, may say motzart is beauty, but I hate motzart. Some may say bach is beauty, and I would agree, but that doesn't mean someone else will. You can't judge an experiment on what you perceive as beauty, because your perception is totally different from someone else's perception.
Plus, what does it prove when you put a musician in a subway station? That people are in a hurry to get to their train and aren't going to have time to stop and listen to a concerto? Well no shit sherlock, how long did it take you to figure that one out? You could put the mona lisa on a building wall, and I bet most people aren't going to stop and stare in awe at it, they have places to go, that's why they're at a subway station
Interesting article, but it didn't say much. Some people would stop to listen, and some wouldn't, I think it depends from person to person and the situation.
well, I happen to disagree with most on here, because I don't like modern ethics, when no one has any time to recognize anyone else, no time to be polite, to admire good work. I can see that, a bit, yes.
I'd personally would have stopped to observe and at least say that I thought he played well. like it or not, I like to be polite. but then, I am the person who stops to be polite and say hi to nearly anyone, and see how they are doing no matter how rushed I am, it just matters how long I stall for.
No one is saying whether they like or dislike the modern way, just commenting on the way in which our society operates.
Have you ever been in a major city and taken a subway? New York? Toronto? San Francisco? Boston? You could never stop and say hello to everyone, these places are clogged with people. And if you had 3 minutes to catch a train that would take you 5 minutes to walk to, you're telling me you would have stopped to check out the music? You'd never make it out of a subway station, since there are always musicians playing in them. Trust me when I say, that many of them don't get a gig for a reason. Do they all suck? Absolutely not, but a majority of what I've heard in trips through various subways has been commical at best.
I tend to agree with most on here.
Rachel, you are a self-acclaimed Capitalist. I also understand the value of markets. So, as a capitalist and a conservative, you first and foremost respect the market's system to need to continue functioning. People arriving late for work, late for appointments, and otherwise stalling does nothing but inhibit the free market system you have widely and zealously acclaimed on here. And as to politeness, being late and stalling is usually seen as impolite by many. So your argument may be interpreted any number of ways.
OK back to reality: turning this article on its head, if someone had stopped, when they should have been taking that 3-year-old to a doctor's appointment, someone would have written an equally sniffly article about how some insufferably elitist cultural types even sacrifice the well-being of their own children for the benefit of the arts.
The truth is, we don't know where everyone was headed, though of course at that hour, most were probably headed to work, to support the infrastructure the experimenters depend upon for their survival.
I have stopped, when it was timely, for a musician I enjoyed. But not when I was otherwise engaged.
And why didn't the article give credit to the people who tossed in a dollar or two, even when they clearly didn't stick around to benefit? Couldn't you equally have had a sniffle-fest about the kindness of strangers in that instance? After all, they didn't just stop, listen for awhile, then throw in the dollar and leave. No, they dropped cash in the bucket and proceeded onward, no benefits incurred to them.
Cody's right, this so-called experiment is fraught with flaws. But these were artists "experimenting", not scientists. And for artists, many times, the interpretation they want to convey is as much a part as the raw materials. I bet any of you can reread post 1 and gather another interpretation, either different from theirs or different from anyone else's on here, because that is entirely subjective.
I live in Portland, where we do have street musicians. I personally have always felt they are an asset and not a liability. So you don't have 30 bucks for the cheap ticket at a concert: You're on your way to work and someone is playing, out in the cold and the rain, and you just might appreciate it, even though you only pass it by because you're otherwise occupied.