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QaR
October 2009 
Missing Out
Geo
A Violinist in the Metro
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin; it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousand of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule.
A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work.
The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats average $100.
This is a real story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be:
If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?
Access: Public
I think this is the situation youtubed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sn6KMSq_vaE&feature=related
There are all these little nuggets of beauty peeking out everywhere, and it is shocking how little anyone of us might notice them…..
Thanks, Jane, and you are so right about those little nuggets. Eyes wide open and all that.
Geo,
You have a valid point. Do we miss out on too much of life because we are in a rush? This morning, everything was covered in ice… I think I got one decentphoto because I was in a rush to get to work. Rushing - ice covering everything - rushing to meet the train with my daughters in tow - they had no school. I could have (and maybe should have) called in sick, but there’s a flip side to that coin called my students. I refuse to let them down.
My daughters were happy to ride the train into work with me, and they loved “working” with me. I make it a point to see at least a little beauty in every day. More on this later… I have a blog inside me about it, but I don’t have the time to write it down just now.
Thank you for the reminder.
Jane,
I like how you refer to those moments as “nuggets”… little treasures.
Hugs to both of you!
-Susan
I followed this story when it first was publicized. Being in the job you are, I’m sure this will resonate with you, that very few “eyewitnesses” to crimes are reliable witnesses because they have no idea what they’ve seen. I just recently read a blurb from an irish newspaper, that at an accident there were many onlookers but no witnesses. Clever statement and a little humorous but also sadly true of every day for most people. We’re often just onlookers and not witnesses. In another experiment, people could not reliably report whether someone who had asked them for directions was male or female! I don’t think it’s about being in a rush really, I think it’s about putting our blinders on when we go out into the world.
I believe that if those nuggets of beauty come along while sharing them with someone special, they are called “snuggets”.
Yes, observational powers. During our recent New Years bomb threat incident, we interviewed about half a dozen eye witnesses who saw the bomber up close and personal. The descriptions ranged from 40 years old, 5’8” and wearing a brown jacket, to 55 years old, 6’2” and wearing a blue jacket. Well, he was 6”, 71 years old and wearing a blue jacket with white lettering.
John D. McDonald, the author of the Travis McGee series once said that he felt most people had eyes only so that they wouldn’t bump into things.
Geo, the author Paul Coelho posted this piece on his blog and asked for reactions to it, but from a slightly different, though related, angle – does art have context? Some part of what he’s getting at is do we think something is art only when we pay through the nose to see it (as folks usually do with Josh Bell) but not when it’s free in the subway, or is art art no matter where you find it? This question can certainly be directed towards writing since the Internet has allowed anyone to be a “published” author, freely accessible. Does that make every blog art or only the ones that take donations through Paypal? I’ve been thinking for days about how to respond to Mr. Coelho’s question and still haven’t formed the right words to represent what’s in my head. Any I work at an art gallery <giggle>! Thanks Geo.
Lil, I think the question about art and context might be striking at the heart of the bigger question; without context, is it art? Well, I tend to follow along Andy Goldsworthy, the Scottish artists who will make large and small installations as ephemeral as melting icicles together into fanciful shapes to cones of rock stacked before the tide comes in. Is it art? No one sees them, they don’t last and are soon gone.
Yes, beauty is best seen through the unhurried mind, free of stress. But, I believe it’s still art and still beautiful as the art, artist or piece is unchanged, we are the one not in tune to see it, hear it or feel it.
Every summer in Aspen we host the Aspen Music Festival and School. On our version of a warm summer’s eve, young musicians from all over the world will busk on the street corners downtown, and if one is very observant, some familiar faces can be seen in those quartets!
I love Andy Goldsworthy!