There’s a local artist, a fine artist, by the name of Patrick Welsh, who has given name to a movement that seeks to change the way art is sold. He calls this movement “Micromentalism” and in its simplest form, it uses this equation to set the price of a work: Price = The number of hours the artist spent creating the work times the hourly wage (or income) of the purchaser. So, a corporate lawyer would pay a lot more for a given piece than a minimum wage service employee. In it’s purest manifestation, an unemployed person would be able to acquire a work for nothing (since his income is nothing), but it’s hard to ask artists to give away their work for free, so the minimum wage has been the, well, minimum multiplier of the hours it took to create the piece.
Welsh’s micromentalist shows have been surprisingly successful, with artists and patrons equally satisfied with the results. Welsh has made sure that the artists involved in these shows have achieved some level of success in the standard gallery system. He’s done this, he says, to show that micromentalism can be successful not just for struggling artists who aren’t selling anything the usual way. He doesn’t want it to seem like he’s attacking the existing gallery system, but seeks to show that there are other ways to go about it. He likens the established gallery system to the system of academic tenure - it’s great when you’re inside the system, but it’s horrible if you’re on the outside.
Over the past several years, The Waxwing Slain has experimented with ways of accepting payment for the musical pieces we create. One method that’s worked well for us has been via a “micromentalist”commission system. Painters and sculptors are well acquainted with the notion of having a patron commission a work. Most often, patrons have been wealthy people who wanted something unique for their collection or to commemorate an event or a loved one. In the European classical tradition, music was (and still is) also made by commission, and recently, the “patrons” have been successful orchestras who request a special composition from a known composer that is then premiered by the orchestra. A few years ago, The Waxwing Slain started, almost as a lark, to offer to compose and produce a recording of a piece or pieces of music by commission. We then promised the patron that no other copies would be made of the work and the patron could do whatever they wanted with the finished recording, including reproducing and selling or distributing it on their own. Perhaps someone would want a unique gift for a loved one, or music to use for a special event.
Years before we’d heard of the micromentalist movement, we decided we would charge for the work on a sliding scale. We’d even request proof of a patron’s income. On rare occasion, the sliding scale included the patron’s political orientation, with left-leaning music lovers getting a special discount (we’ve since abandoned that idea). Although we weren’t really making “music - to - order”, we would still request personal interviews with the patrons in order to personalize the music (to varying extent). Interestingly, the amount of the commission generally worked out to about the same equation that the Micromentalists use: the number of hours the work took to create times the hourly income of the patron. This type of commission still makes up a significant part of the new music that we make.
For information about commissioning music from The Waxwing Slain, contact us at “info AT thewaxwingslain DOT com”. Having a recording (and owning the rights) to a unique work of contemporary music costs less than you’d think.
A certain type of artist uses the world around herself, not just for the raw material of an artistic vision, but for the very canvas of a work. Here, someone named “Blu” has created an amazingly dynamic, if fleeting experience. I wonder if the people who lived near this work or who passed by every day had any idea what was really happening.
A few weeks ago, we started learning the taiji sword form. Unlike the Yang tai chi form, which seems internal, contained, the sword form is like a dance, projecting the chi outward. Even the study is different. Instead of our master showing us another small addition to the form every few lessons, the sword form is learned in wide strokes. Loose. Energetic. More than a little scary, actually.
It’s good practice for the Work though. We’ve spent months and months with minutae. Like a pointillist. Wrapping up now, we’ve got to take it in from horizon to horizon.
But right now, Spring is forcing its way through the frozen concrete and asphalt here in Chicago, USA. There are finches in the garden and it’s time to pick up the sword.
At the beginning of 2008, we decided that if we were going to survive what’s been an old-school Chicago Winter Extreme Edition, we would have to expand our consciousness a little bit as well as find a way to get a little movement into our lives.
The Mathematician suggested Tai Chi Chuan, a Chinese “internal” martial art that’s all about finding a balance between extremes. You’ve probably seen people in the park or at the beach that seem to be doing karate moves in slow motion. Most likely, they were practicing Tai Chi.
After extensive research, we found the Stirling Tai Chi Societyonly a short distance from home. Master Stirling Levine, who’s been practicing the ancient Yang style of Tai Chi for over 30 years, was one of the first masters to be trained by the great Hsu Fun Yuen. His school, two floors up from the busy Ashland/Division intersection, is a serene oasis of calm concentration, energy in motion, and great fun. For some reason, many of his students are professional musicians, and indeed, Master Stirling himself is a fine harmonica pro of the first order. His dalmation, Louie, keeps watch on the classes from his comfy bed in the corner, and adds to the sense of order that permeates the studio.
In the six short weeks that we’ve been practicing this wonderful art, we’ve felt the stiffness and heaviness melt away and a growing sense of life-energy, or “Chi” start to flow through our arms and legs. It’ll be interesting to see what effect this has on the music of the Waxwing Slain. The very least we can say is that we’re able to work longer and with greater concentration since starting this new journey.
A few weeks ago, we wrote about the album of music inspired by the Dragonball Z saga that we’ve been working on. We talked about how it was going to be submitted to the RPM Challenge. Well, since we wrote that post, the project has taken on a life of its own, and it’s been evolving into something a lot bigger than we’d originally planned. Apparently, we’ve struck a rich vein of inspiration here.
So, we’ve decided that instead of using this project for the RPM Challenge (which every year invites musicians to compose and produce an album in 28 days and is a great idea by the way), we’re instead planning to expand on the idea and get it ready for a different type of release that (we hope) will reach more listeners.
We’ve started a new project - an album for the web site RPM Challenge. The plan is to create a suite of pieces inspired by the Dragonball Z saga. Every year in February, the RPM Challenge invites musicians to compose, perform and record an album in 28 days. That means on Feb 1 (and not a moment sooner) you start writing and by Feb 28 it’s a finished product.
Last year, we were hoping to participate but our main recording system had a complete breakdown (on Super Bowl Sunday no less!). We ran out into the horrible cold and snow and bought a new system, but by the time we figured out that Microsoft Vista was an ugly trick and we finally got the system up and running it was too late, and we were too jangled to finish on time. We’ve really been looking forward to this year’s Challenge.
Working on our new Holiday on Ice record. Found this inspirational video. We get flying dreams like this. Seldom, but enough to keep us looking forward to sleep.
Sometimes, you’re put into a situation, where ready or not, you have to act. I believe that for a large number of Americans, who still hold to a vision of our country that’s still somehow connected to the vision of our Founding Fathers, the last 7 years have created just such a situation.
It’s just started, but we’re inviting other artists, musicians and performers to contribute works that might exhort, and express something about what it means to act in a public manner when your society is moving in the wrong direction.
Please take a look at the new blog, Resistance1, and listen to the civilian march of the same name. For more information, drop us a note at awaxwingslain@gmail.com.
The activity in my life that most makes me want to make music is sleep. Maybe it’s because I’ve slept with music playing since I was a child. There’s always been something about the way music brings more vivid dreams, and then invades those dreams, that has always been the most satisfying way for me to enjoy music. It could be because music is one of the most dreamlike of all the arts, or just because it’s easier to listen to music while sleeping than it is to watch a movie or read a novel.
Lately, my favorite music for sleep has been the first and second act of Parsifal by Richard Wagner. I was never much of a Wagner fan before the past few years, but he’s quickly climbed my chart of favorites. Wagner’s music tends to be more dreamlike than most other music too. Something about the way he uses symbols and melodies to represent and describe those symbols. That and his incredible, iconic orchestrations.
I don’t think a lot of music fans realize just how much Wagner has influenced popular music. And I’m not talking about the Ride of the Valkyrie or the Wedding March. Every time you hear an orchestra or orchestral instruments in the music of the Beatles, for example, you are hearing Wagner. His raw and direct way of stating a theme and his use of orchestral colors to support primary ideas has shown generations of music producers how to build and decorate a set. His drama is the stuff of musical deep thinkers from George Martin to Phil Spector to Thom Yorke. Roxy Music was awash in the colors from The Ring Cycle.
If you can find a good recording of Parsifal, try putting the first act on your mp3 player and let it play when you lay down to sleep for the next few nights. Get ready for some of the most satisfying dreams you’ve ever had. And powerful dreams make for restful nights and pleasant days.
