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On Difficulty

On Difficulty. in poetry and other arts. George Steiner, On Difficulty (1978). A common reaction to poetry: Huh? Four Difficulties Contingent Modal Tactical (my favorite!) Ontological. Four Difficulties. Contingent -- a cultural reference that you might have to "go look up." 

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On Difficulty

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  1. On Difficulty in poetry and other arts

  2. George Steiner, On Difficulty (1978) A common reaction to poetry: Huh? Four Difficulties Contingent Modal Tactical (my favorite!) Ontological

  3. Four Difficulties Contingent -- a cultural reference that you might have to "go look up."  Your understanding (and, presumably, enjoyment) is contingent on knowing some fact (or tune?) 

  4. single candle = God’s eye Jan van EyckMarriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami, 1434 St Margaret? crystal prayer beads oranges = ? shoes imported carpet $$$ Fido

  5. Four Difficulties Modal -- after sincerely trying to engage and understand the work, you just can't like it due to fundamental issues of taste or personal experience. (Horror films revel in modal difficulty.)

  6. The Slaughtered Ox1655

  7. Four Difficulties Tactical -- the artist deliberately gets in your way of immediately understanding the work's meaning (Why do this? Which is more enjoyable – the tale or the telling of the tale?)  • Pulp Fiction • Speed or overwhelming complexity of music – bebop • Insider slang in lyrics • Ravel’s La Valse

  8. Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg Woman in Front of a Mirror, 1841oil on canvas, 33.5 x 26 cm (13 3/16 x 10 1/4)

  9. Braque, The Portuguese, 1911 CUBISM

  10. James RosenquistWelcome to the Water Planet1987 POP-ART

  11. Hypo Alpe-Adria Center in Klagenfurt, Austria, MAYNE, 2002

  12. Four Difficulties Ontological -- the artist through the work challenges the very definition of the genre or even the idea of art itself Fountain, 1917

  13. Four Difficulties Contingent Modal Tactical (my favorite!) Ontological All together now . . .

  14. HOLBEIN, HansThe Ambassadors1533Oil on wood207 x 209.5 cm

  15. Attention, shoppers. From within the     inverted commas of a strambotto, seditious     whispering watermarks this time of day. Time to get    out and, as they say, about. From a poem, “Where Shall I Wander,” by John Ashbery, 2005

  16. Attention, shoppers. From within the     inverted commas of a strambotto, seditious     whispering watermarks this time of day. Time to get    out and, as they say, about. contingent From a poem, “Where Shall I Wander,” by John Ashbery, pub. 2005

  17. Attention, shoppers. From within the     inverted commas of a strambotto, seditious     whispering watermarks this time of day. Time to get    out and, as they say, about. tactical From a poem, “Where Shall I Wander,” by John Ashbery, pub. 2005

  18. Attention, shoppers. From within the     inverted commas of a strambotto, seditious     whispering watermarks this time of day. Time to get    out and, as they say, about. ontological This is a poem? ontological This is a poem? From a poem, “Where Shall I Wander,” by John Ashbery, pub. 2005

  19. in music? Brian Ferneyhough

  20. Ferneyhough String Trio (1995) Ontological? Tactical? Convention Expression

  21. John Cage (after McLuhan) ‘music is information brushing against information’

  22. JOHN ADAMS Hallelujah Junction (1996) for 2 pianos – rhythmically very tricky for the performers

  23. Non-ontological directions in new music rhythmic developments timbral refinement x new tunings hybrids with rock, studio techniques improv, especially with electronics Me

  24. Sonata Rocinante – a tactical difficulty an initial idea developed as written

  25. Sonata Rocinante • Rocinante – Don Quixote’s horse • 4 sections -- Rocinante • as described by Cervantes (bony, stubborn) • as imagined by Quixote • again as described by Cervantes • as imagined by Quixote – and the reader? • the horse • the rider • the writer • the reader (computer demo performance)

  26. Sonata Rocinante the horse

  27. Sonata Rocinante the rider Quixote’s POV – Rocinante as dark, powerful, muscular (sort of in the style of Chopin)

  28. Sonata Rocinante the writer the author’s games (the composer’s games) horsin’ around

  29. Sonata Rocinante the reader the response of the reader integrating the effects of the novel

  30. Undercurrent traditional motific development & expansion then subjected to various folding, fragmentation and repetition

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