encounter with an artist
last friday i was lucky enough to play a little with birgit at the monthly jam. so tonight i went to listen to her group, black crow/white crow, at the campus beer garden, hoping to support a group whose sound i like a lot.
anyway, the bassist for another band i like a lot was there, and i think he offended me.
or, more accurately, i think he thought he offended me, basically for accusing university teachers of being too scared to actually get out there and do what they teach. his sentiment is aimed especially at the music dept., who i think he sees as upholding tradition at the expense of creativity and as pretending to do "objective" research about a field that is ultimately subjective. art, in his mind, doesn't belong in the university at all, and music professors are mostly cut from the cloth of those too scared to actually get out there and gig.
so anyway, about ten minutes into his rant he said to me something like, "sorry if you teach at the university," not realizing that, actually, i do teach at the university. then, the part i loved the best is that, when he discovered that i actually do teach at the university, he apologized, a few times, but without really meaning it. i don't mean that i "loved" it in a sarcastic way: i actually really did love that part, his sorta-but-not-really-apologizing.
but the thing is, i don't really feel like we're on opposite sides, and yet i can't quite figure out how i can agree with him and still do what i do, which is teach without an extensive background in my subject area. do i really need to be out there "gigging" in order to be able to teach my subject? does writing grants for a summer job, or filling out terribly-designed Census forms for a summer, or planning a workshop for "real" technical writers--do any of these "gigs" count as "real" work in his eyes? in my eyes? and what if i choose to teach because i want to teach, not just be a writer? doesn't all of the writing i do in my own workplace count for anything? and what if i understand writing in a way that doesn't make me feel that i have to "prove" it through production, but still i feel that production, eventually, is important? and what i really do agree with him that the university--and the arts especially--really is filled with a lot of bloat, a lot of "theorizing" that masquerades as "research," a lot of irrelevancy that i worry will eventually topple the ivory towers? what then?
anyway, the bassist for another band i like a lot was there, and i think he offended me.
or, more accurately, i think he thought he offended me, basically for accusing university teachers of being too scared to actually get out there and do what they teach. his sentiment is aimed especially at the music dept., who i think he sees as upholding tradition at the expense of creativity and as pretending to do "objective" research about a field that is ultimately subjective. art, in his mind, doesn't belong in the university at all, and music professors are mostly cut from the cloth of those too scared to actually get out there and gig.
so anyway, about ten minutes into his rant he said to me something like, "sorry if you teach at the university," not realizing that, actually, i do teach at the university. then, the part i loved the best is that, when he discovered that i actually do teach at the university, he apologized, a few times, but without really meaning it. i don't mean that i "loved" it in a sarcastic way: i actually really did love that part, his sorta-but-not-really-apologizing.
but the thing is, i don't really feel like we're on opposite sides, and yet i can't quite figure out how i can agree with him and still do what i do, which is teach without an extensive background in my subject area. do i really need to be out there "gigging" in order to be able to teach my subject? does writing grants for a summer job, or filling out terribly-designed Census forms for a summer, or planning a workshop for "real" technical writers--do any of these "gigs" count as "real" work in his eyes? in my eyes? and what if i choose to teach because i want to teach, not just be a writer? doesn't all of the writing i do in my own workplace count for anything? and what if i understand writing in a way that doesn't make me feel that i have to "prove" it through production, but still i feel that production, eventually, is important? and what i really do agree with him that the university--and the arts especially--really is filled with a lot of bloat, a lot of "theorizing" that masquerades as "research," a lot of irrelevancy that i worry will eventually topple the ivory towers? what then?
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