Monday, March 16, 2009

Stop and Hear the Music



This is a hidden video of a world-renown violinist, Joshua Bell, playing a crazy difficult set for a subway station audience in Washington, D.C.. In a social experiment organized by the Washington Post Joshua, among others, wondered just how much of an appreciation do ordinary people have for the arts on an everyday basis. The results may or may not surprise you:

Bell played a total of of six classical pieces over the course of 43 minutes, during which time 1,097 people passed by:

-27 people donated a total of $32
-only seven bothered to stand and watch for more than a full minute

Now I know none of us at 505 are classical music aficionados but I hope we'd at least be able to notice a world class musician shredding his dick off in a subway station. Maybe we'd even watch for a bit. Either way, seeing this reminded me to stay frosty when it comes to appreciating art and creativity no matter where I find it. Don't have your head up your ass or you may miss something pretty dope.

Read the Pulitzer Prize winning Washington Post article here if you want to know more about the whole deal

...Or if you think violins are pussy shit then check out a sampling of some real badasses instead

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