art-craft

Seeing how my last post was so unforgivably wordy, I thought I'd give some examples of this kind of "art-craft" that I have mentioned. Art-craft can be found almost anywhere. Indeed, as anyone who has done even the most rudimentary investigating into the philosophy of art and aesthetics goes, there are "cultures who don't even have a word for art." Straight up. This, I can dig. Why not do everything as art? Why not see your own life as a piece of ongoing art - one's ultimate work of art?

Anyway back to the tangible.

First, a video of a fiddle solo by a member of one of my very most cherished bands, Frigg. The ease and the grace with which this man plays his instrument is really, really inspiring to me. Having tried to play the fiddle, I know how difficult it is to simply draw the bow across the strings without making demonic screeches that run shivers down your spine. But this guy moves his bow across the strings like a fish through water, like a calligraphy brush on the page.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpSmyS7javw

Secondly, another music-type craft. Along with Sami joiking and Balinese gamelan orchestra, I think Tuvan throat singing is one of the world's most interesting musical traditions. I think it's incredibly exciting the way that they have differentiated between the five types of singing, and how they've described them in terms of their resemblance to an ecological phenomenon.

http://www.alashensemble.com/about_tts.htm

Just people doing what they do — really, really well.