Monday 1 November 2010

Feeling it...

I went to see a jazz singer at the weekend. She's internationally known and has won many accolades, so it promised to be a good night. I settled down to listen, and she could certainly sing. The musicians were equally lauded, and I could hear the talent, the skill, the training...
But I felt nothing.

At the interval I got chatting with another woman in the audience, who said it left her a bit cold too. I spent the second half watching, listening, and wondering how it is that someone can have such ability yet still miss something.

It reminded me that at the moment I'm reading a book by an award winning author. Her language is beautiful, her images astound, yet I close the book and forget about it until I next go to pick it up. It hasn't moved me. Like the jazz, I can appreciate the skill, but my heart is untouched.

That is why computers can't do art. Technical ability is all well and good but for an artist to really reach an audience they have to invest a little of their soul.

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