Onlookers packed the backroom, the bar, and the sidewalk at Pete’s Candy Store Monday night, all hoping to catch David Byrne speak as part of the Open City Dialogue lecture series. The topic of Byrne’s lecture was “Creation in Reverse,”—using music as his example, Byrne presented a series of slides and accompanying sound clips of a variety of music venues and the type of music played in them—from churches to opera houses, jazz clubs, disco techs, and concert stadiums. The venues, and the audiences attending them, Byrne argued, are more often the unconscious driving force behind an artist’s motivation in creating a particular work. That’s not to discount passion, emotion, or creative urges, Byrne explained. Rather, he tried to show that art is always created in the context of the outlets and spaces available to it, whether it be early jazz music that was improvised to extend dancing time on the floor, or modern rock bands like U2 creating songs that can carry in giant arenas. “The band One Republic—one of their lyrics says ‘I need another story, something to get off my chest.’ An artist or musician may claim that they write to express themselves or get things off their chest, but I would say that that’s an old idea of how art and music get created,” Byrne said. “Instead, we kind of instinctually think of where it’s going to end up and make stuff that works in that space.” Byrne also discussed the advent of radios and sound systems, which split the output of music into two types: live and recorded. “It’s a conflict that maybe never will be resolved as long as recorded music exists—which it may not for much longer,” Byrne joked. “The conflict is that some band sound really good on record but don’t sound good live… And then other times, they’re incredible live but their record just doesn’t capture the excitement that you saw at the concert. Musicians and composers have juggled these two realities ever since [the equipment] came into existence. It’s still not resolved.” Despite some of the disgruntled latecomers crammed into the bar and outside of Pete’s, audience members seemed positive about the lecture. “It wasn’t at all what I expected. I thought it was interesting how he built a progression of a relatively simple idea, which is music being created for its venue. But the length that he went to demonstrate that, I thought was very comprehensive,” said Colin Sutherland, an attendee at the event. “It’s true that it is often marketed that passion fuels music, but I completely agree that the venue has a direct influence on the music that gets created.” “I really enjoyed it,” another attendant, Will Wolfslau said. “I loved his manner of speaking. He’s got this kind of circular way of talking—much more like a favorite uncle expounding on a dear subject to him than a university lecture. I thought it was a sound idea. Well elucidated.” Byrne’s lecture was part of Open City Dialogue, a bi-weekly lecture series curated by Jamie Hook. Speakers in the past have included a former drug addicts, rooftop farmer, and taxidermist. “I’m having fun trying to figure out what it should be, and this was a great surprise,” Hook said. “It’s a great excuse to find people who you’re interested in and ask them more questions. I gave a lecture on my obsession with Barry White, so it’s really about all kinds of things. Some people tell lies, some people tell truth, and some people just talk to an audience. I liked [tonight’s lecture], where it wound up that he was actually taking questions and working it out in a small room.” Hook initially approached Byrne thinking that he might want to talk bicycles, a known obsession of the artist’s, although Byrne proposed the topic of artistic creation instead. “For me, it’s a great example of why you would live in New York, and second, why you should always assume that anything can happen. I never would have expected that [Byrne] would say yes. In hindsight, of course, why wouldn’t he want to.” “I thought it [the lecture] was really interesting,” Hook continued. It was really pointy headed and a weird little corner of a subject and in some ways, not a crowd pleaser, which is I guess is a great gift that you get when everyone’s a crowd to be pleased. The big heart and soul of what he was talking about, for me, was that no matter what the form is, all the emotional stuff comes in. It’s like one of those funny things where if you make a play or a film, no matter how hard you try to make it not about something going on in your life, when you stand back and look at it you see that it’s totally about your life.” To find out more about Open City Dialogue, visit petescandystore.com |
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