I feel inclined to fill up this blog as quick as possible to take advantage of my initial motivation to write in a blog again. So here it goes...
Duende
My Favorite Word and Why
It's a Spanish phrase pronounced like 'Dwen-day'... how cool is that word even just on it's own? It's a tad difficult to explain and like most things I find pleasure in, it's easier to experience than explain. Here are some quotes from Lorca's Theory and Play of the Duende:
The duende is not in the throat: the duende surges up, inside, from the soles of the feet.
Everything that has black sounds in it, has duende.
Wow... that's so freakin cool. If you've experienced the Duende, you can surely understand what he means by "black sounds", or more generally, the blackness or darkness of Duende. The Duende usually manifests itself in the performing arts, but can also exists in other areas such as visual arts or poetry. The closest word in english that I could think of is "Soul" (i.e. 'that jazz musician is playing with a lot of soul') which I think is still very far from Duende.
The Duende's beauty comes from it's spiritual darkness and earthiness, which can almost be described as pagan or demonic. The performer becomes possessed by the Duende much like a Vodou Priest would become possessed during a ceremony. But I wouldn't consider this "dark" in the sense of evil or harmful- rather, "dark" in the sense that it represents the inner uncertainty and struggle of the artist to his or her art, and at the same time, the artist's intense need to become swallowed by it.
And when a dancer or a musician is swallowed by the Duende, it's almost as if the performer's body and senses are in perfect alignment with the spirit of the Music (the "dark sounds"), and all fear and insecurity are completely absent. It's weird that every now and then humans have a need to be broken by whatever forces drive our universe and face their mortality and fears directly, almost out of a need to feel alive. The Duende exists for anyone willing to face it and be taken by it.
That's why Duende is my favorite word.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Re-Introduction & Introduction to What is Joy?
Over the past year or so, I have been in somewhat of an artistic hibernation. Perhaps, my teenage angst has finally subsided or maybe just redirected to other things. Nonetheless, I feel my vocabulary slowly slipping away from me as I have not written in quite a while. So in short, I plan to start with a clean slate on this blog (sorry, Xanga of old). I will make it the goal of this blog to be as entertaining and witty (if not more) as I was in my younger years or less sober times.
With that, I want to jump right into a theme that I hope will be prevalent (at least implicitly) in my writings: JOY.
What is Joy, Brian? I usually don't have a good answer for this, which actually makes sense since Joy is better experienced than explained. But since this still doesn't satisfy the curious, I will try my best to explain what Joy is to me.
I believe the main point of Joy is that it occurs as a direct connection between two people. This is a one-to-one, bi-directional, and collaborative connection. Joy manifests itself in a variety of ways, but I will use Art as a starting point since Joy and Art are so closely tied together.
Traditionally, Art has an artist-viewer model in which the artist creates art independently from his or her potential audience. However, with Joy, the artist and viewer are indistinguishable in that they are equally involved in the piece of art. Moreover, the artwork itself is the result of the connection between the two people. In other words, the piece would not exist if there did not exist a connection between the two people involved. In the Joy philosophy, everyone is an artist. This type of art is often more about the action or performance, likely temporary, and performed with the other person in mind.
We've all experienced this in one way or another. It can be as simple as a child drawing a picture for his or her mother for Mother's Day or making personalized gifts for close friends. And beyond art and gifts, Joy can manifest itself in something as simple as a moment or experience. "You are My Joy" is just a way to acknowledge the connection that you feel- that this is no ordinary moment or experience, but one that is in the realm of Joy.
With that, I want to jump right into a theme that I hope will be prevalent (at least implicitly) in my writings: JOY.
What is Joy, Brian? I usually don't have a good answer for this, which actually makes sense since Joy is better experienced than explained. But since this still doesn't satisfy the curious, I will try my best to explain what Joy is to me.
I believe the main point of Joy is that it occurs as a direct connection between two people. This is a one-to-one, bi-directional, and collaborative connection. Joy manifests itself in a variety of ways, but I will use Art as a starting point since Joy and Art are so closely tied together.
Traditionally, Art has an artist-viewer model in which the artist creates art independently from his or her potential audience. However, with Joy, the artist and viewer are indistinguishable in that they are equally involved in the piece of art. Moreover, the artwork itself is the result of the connection between the two people. In other words, the piece would not exist if there did not exist a connection between the two people involved. In the Joy philosophy, everyone is an artist. This type of art is often more about the action or performance, likely temporary, and performed with the other person in mind.
We've all experienced this in one way or another. It can be as simple as a child drawing a picture for his or her mother for Mother's Day or making personalized gifts for close friends. And beyond art and gifts, Joy can manifest itself in something as simple as a moment or experience. "You are My Joy" is just a way to acknowledge the connection that you feel- that this is no ordinary moment or experience, but one that is in the realm of Joy.
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