Comments on: Fanning the Semantic Flame

By: Wook

Wook — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 01:36:27 +0000

Lisa,

I understand that you do not want the arts to be undervalued. I think everyone here agrees and I believe no one has made the argument to the contrary. Your idiosyncratic definition of the word ‘product’ seems to be causing some confusion. It’s unfortunate that you’ve erroneously foisted so many negative, or limiting, connotations on the poor word. Surely you don’t object to Allan Marquand’s calling Antoine Coysevox an ‘original, varied and productive sculptor’ as he does in “A Textbook of the History of Sculpture”. The produce of production is a product, no?

By: Lisa Hirsch

Lisa Hirsch — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 00:28:31 +0000

I think you are missing the point I was trying to make: concerts and recordings are not the outcome of industrial processes in the way that, say, spark plugs are. Using the word “product” to refer to a concert stops the discussion at the point where the “product” is sold, meaning when the ticket is sold. But the person who buys the ticket is looking for and expecting an _experience_, a performance taking place in time, which the listener will hear and respond to in time and very likely for some time after the performance.

You buy a “product,” you expect some kind of uniformity. You buy a ticket to concerts by two different orchestras – say, your regional orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic – and you can reasonably expect to have somewhat different experiences. For that matter, if you hear the San francisco Symphony playing the same work under two different conductors, you expect differences.

Given the definitions of commodification and commoditization above, you could say I don’t want either process to affect how musical performances are regarded.

By: Nick Burman

Nick Burman — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 02:43:03 +0000

Some people just dislike the idea of attaching monetary value to their art. Until the rent is due, that is.
The one time that I object to the use of the word product is when you are talking to a customer. Customers do not buy nor pay for products, they buy solutions. There’s an ad on TV for a DVD computer learning course. The author begs ‘please buy my product’. No! You SELL a product, but buy a service.
As for art, you do neither. You ‘patronize’ or ‘invest’.
But then I think that anyone who has paid money to sit in front of an orchestra and listen is quite aware of the commoditization occurring.