pop vs art

[Jeremy Markowitz <jeremymarkowitz@xxxxxxxxx>]

I am usually of the belief that pop culture in general
is a social contract type of thing.  There still has
to be something for a consumer to desire, but things
get "watered down" so that the least amount of
offending flavors remain for the intended demographic.
Sure, marketing creates demand, but I think a lot of
today's consumers are aware of this and there is a
social contract here as well.  

Does art have a binding contract with culture?  Or is
it only to be measured against something ineffable,
like "absolute truth?"  The best art for me reveals
something that appealing to the masses just can't.  It
is those unusual flavors that jar my senses and
intellect and makes me wonder why that just happened,
and whether I like it.  Water does not jar my senses,
however I can still appreciate the purity of it at
times.  Most music fanatics I've encountered want what
is popular with them to be popular for everyone else,
especially if it involves converting someone with a
revelation of why it's good.  The truth seems to be
that to get from the plateau of a concentrated
aesthetic to that of mass consumerism, a lot will be
reduced and cancelled along the way.  That's just
because people have different experiences than you,
grew up in a different environment, etc.  The creation
of desire still works best when the thirst for it is
there.  

The reason I want types of music I like to be more
popular is because I somehow believe 1) more of it
will be created/accessible (live shows) 2) more good
stuff will be created through increased volume 3) the
production of a certain amount will be better, perhaps
more consicely realized, at which point it will
probably be useless to produce anymore.

With glitch in particular, I think the art comes with
the the de-production of it.  It snaps me out of my
common listening experience, because the production
uses the abosolute no-no's for its creation.  If you
make something like this more "produced," then you are
going against the element which made it artistic in
the first place.  

Perhaps I'm too self-absorbed, but  I think an answer
to the question of why I want to listen to the no-no's
of production is a more interesting one than how do I
get the rest of the world to listen to it on the
radio.  If you find a kernal of the universal in the
former, you will have the means to produce something
artistic and popular.  If you find a template for the
latter, you have something else which may or may not
have anything to do with art or music.

But my original point was that today art seems just
more marginalized by it's own virtue, although I don't
know if this was always the case.  Things probably
changed when it became commissioned by factions other
than the church or state. 



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