You might call it the aesthetic object
John Darnielle's latest post over at Last Plane to Jakarta is a very interesting beginning; I hope he expands on what he's talking about there with regards to what an artifact is and the issues surrounding that. The really important bit:
We think artifacts aren't necessarily physical-world things, but that physical-world things are still the most convenient way of asserting that there's an artifact somewhere. Above all, we're more convinced than ever that good music is the substance of: its content, its image (I'd prefer "spectre," but sometimes you just have to give yourself a break), and the things people remember collectively about these two: and importantly, the struggle that takes place -- that always takes place -- in reconciling these.
This is making me hope I can find the time to re-read Ingarden's book about music in the near future, and maybe Davies' Art As Performance as well.
We think artifacts aren't necessarily physical-world things, but that physical-world things are still the most convenient way of asserting that there's an artifact somewhere. Above all, we're more convinced than ever that good music is the substance of: its content, its image (I'd prefer "spectre," but sometimes you just have to give yourself a break), and the things people remember collectively about these two: and importantly, the struggle that takes place -- that always takes place -- in reconciling these.
This is making me hope I can find the time to re-read Ingarden's book about music in the near future, and maybe Davies' Art As Performance as well.
