who are you?
On the bus the other day, I started writing a collection of dichotomies, some rather suspect in their assumption of contradiction, others not, and then choosing the ones "which mostly closely approximates your interests," like in those ridiculous personality tests from grade school.
So far:
(X )Kitsch
( )Tacky
This one occurred to me when looking at the tackiness of the Pride celebration decorations in San Francisco. Whatever happened to gays with good taste? Kitsch can be in excellent taste, but angel wings and rainbow flags painted on everything? Hmm....
(X)Complexity
( )Irrationality
I think it's interesting to think of these two things as polar opposites, creating a strange spectrum wherein the middle would be comprised of a perfect mix of the two. It seems Brian Ferneyhough's music works in this spectrum at times.
( )Austerity
(X)Humor
( )Permanence
(X)Pop
This one was inspired by Momus.
(X)Architecture
( )Improvisation
Making an architecture inside of which you can play and move around, musically speaking, is a much different thing than turning your brain off and turning your instrument on.
( )Input
(X)Output
Always the most important thing.
(X)Mystification
( )Demystification
Thanks to living in Japan for this!
(X)Simplicity
( )Simplistic
Learned this from Fred Frith and Alvin Lucier.