Diego Chamy: Positive/ Negative

[lukaz]

Check this out- you can watch it or download it ...

http://sites.google.com/site/diegochamy ... --negative

Positive / Negative

"Bad taste is simply saying the truth before it should be said", Mel Brooks

I was invited to participate in an improvisation with eight musicians. I worked projecting in a big screen the word processor of my computer, in which I wrote one by one the names of the musicians of the ensemble and made a list of positive and negative things about each of them.

Background concepts:

In the last years, negative criticism towards artists has practically disappeared. There is a general opinion that negative criticism is something unproductive and resentful that is not helpful for anyone ("if you have nothing good to say about it, then don't say anything at all"). Nowadays most of the art reviews contain either positive statements or just inoffensive neutral descriptions of the art works. Also the artists themselves avoid criticizing other artists (at least openly). This happens mostly because of the increasing professionalism in the art world, which forces artists to be extremely polite since they have to take care of their own careers and reputation.

As a result, a lot of artists end up having a deluded conception about their own works just because no one dears to publicly say anything negative about them. Under my point of view, this situation became very harmful for the art productions, which, since they are not subject of criticism, are then no subject of corrections and reformulations, and therefore stay very often in a permanent precarious condition.

The aim of the so-called "Positive / Negative" idea is not to state comprehensive criticism about these artists, neither it pretends that its statements are the ultimate truth. The positive and negative statements were taken from general opinions that are repeatedly heard among the audience, but never openly said. "Positive / Negative" is just a device that effectively showed a certain group of problems, confronting at least partially the overall propagated hypocrisy that results of the current lack of criticism in the art world in our days.

Ensemble:

Jean-Luc Guionnet - alto saxophone
Seijiro Murayama - percussion
Alexandre Babel - percussion
Diego Chamy - visuals
Clare Cooper - guzheng
Robin Hayward - tuba
Christof Kurzmann - electronics
Andrea Neumann - inside piano (left the stage without playing)
Clayton Thomas - double bass

Live at Ausland, Berlin, during the second edition of the series called "Nine Lives".
10th of June 2009

[Gerardo A]

Watching the video (It kind of seems from it that the other musicians from the ensemble didn't know what Chamy was going to project.)

[p_ano]

In the last years, negative criticism towards artists has practically disappeared. There is a general opinion that negative criticism is something unproductive and resentful that is not helpful for anyone ("if you have nothing good to say about it, then don't say anything at all"). Nowadays most of the art reviews contain either positive statements or just inoffensive neutral descriptions of the art works. Also the artists themselves avoid criticizing other artists (at least openly). This happens mostly because of the increasing professionalism in the art world, which forces artists to be extremely polite since they have to take care of their own careers and reputation.

hmm, i'm not sure if this is true. in my circles we strive to be honest with each other. for example, richard kamerman and i have brutally critiqued each other's work.. kamerman told me flat-out to remove feedback from my setup, and because of his advice i have found much more exciting phenomenon within my gear.. i also look to jon abbey for advice frequently, and he never hesitates to tell me if something sucks. i can think of many other names, but i'll spare their privacy, and summarize by saying that there are numerous people that i trust to give me honest criticism. on the flip side, i frequently reject homophoni submissions (even submissions by well-known artists). i try to be honest with my artists and explain why i have rejected a piece, and also explain what exactly i'm looking for. so, it seems to me that criticism is alive in well in my lil' clique.

maybe this is primarily a european problem? maybe all that grant money is soiling the waters?

[p_ano]

really enjoying this video btw...

[jcg]

The positive and negative statements were taken from general opinions that are repeatedly heard among the audience, but never openly said. "Positive / Negative" is just a device that effectively showed a certain group of problems, confronting at least partially the overall propagated hypocrisy that results of the current lack of criticism in the art world in our days.the stage without playing)

Interesting idea here but a rather awful realization. Some comments are really off-topic (and I'm not talking about the amusing French bashing or the tongue-in-cheek self glorification of DC and his "great stage presence" and whatnot). Things such as "cannot avoid being seen as the girlfriend of Clayton Thomas" (about Clare Cooper) or "overshadowed by the trumpet player Axel Doerner mostly because of extramusical reasons" (about Robyn Hayward) are quite dubious and totally irrelevant to their musical practice. Plus the "repeatedly heard opinions" from a Berlin audience are more likely to be about local musicians than about musicians who perform there less often. Anyway. Doesn't sound very exciting either.

[faster]

Agreed.

And David--for all the critique behind closed doors, Chamy's dead write about criticism in public. The critics don't do it, and players only do it in private. So I'm going to take this opportunity right here to tell you that you'll always be overshadowed by hipster chick mostly for extra-musical reasons.

[William Hutson]

"cannot avoid being seen as the girlfriend of Clayton Thomas" (about Clare Cooper)

that's not actually a criticism of cooper, but of a kind of misogyny that chamy is simply perpetuating here.

and for the record: i've heard way more negative things about chamy than those he listed on the screen.

[jcg]

that's not actually a criticism of cooper, but of a kind of misogyny that chamy is simply perpetuating here.

Sure, but it still is an obnoxious comment that probably made her uncomfortable in front of an audience and of other improvisers for no reason. Maybe that was the point. "Staying in a safe place while improvising" is certainly another unpleasant observation but in this case I think it's fine as it deals more directly with the criticism of self-indulgence and the critics in general. Wait, what was the original "concept"?

and for the record: i've heard way more negative things about chamy than those he listed on the screen.

For the record: I've also seen performances involving Chamy that were much more painfully awkward than this one. Again, maybe that was the point.

[jpeatt]

In the last years, negative criticism towards artists has practically disappeared. There is a general opinion that negative criticism is something unproductive and resentful that is not helpful for anyone ("if you have nothing good to say about it, then don't say anything at all"). Nowadays most of the art reviews contain either positive statements or just inoffensive neutral descriptions of the art works. Also the artists themselves avoid criticizing other artists (at least openly). This happens mostly because of the increasing professionalism in the art world, which forces artists to be extremely polite since they have to take care of their own careers and reputation.

hmm, i'm not sure if this is true. in my circles we strive to be honest with each other. for example, richard kamerman and i have brutally critiqued each other's work.. kamerman told me flat-out to remove feedback from my setup, and because of his advice i have found much more exciting phenomenon within my gear.. i also look to jon abbey for advice frequently, and he never hesitates to tell me if something sucks......so, it seems to me that criticism is alive in well in my lil' clique.

maybe this is primarily a european problem? maybe all that grant money is soiling the waters?

I've found trying to get this kind of honest feedback from people in my own circles can be like pulling teeth. From my end it seems to be more to do with small communities rather than funding, but that's Australia rather than Europe.

[Fourier Transform]

I really hope his comments about Kurzmann's vocals were ironic.

[mudd]

talking trash is not a valid substitute for critique.

m

[faster]

talking trash is not a valid substitute for critique.

m

Maybe it was an accidental commentary on how eroded and lazy people's critical faculties have become.

[mudd]

that would pretty much justify it.

m

[Dan Warburton]

talking trash is not a valid substitute for critique.

Word. This is a bore.

[RFKorp]

I really hope his comments about Kurzmann's vocals were ironic.

I really hope they were serious.

Although I love Kurzmann's electronics work. That struck me as the ONLY honestly constructive thought in the whole performance.

[Chromosome]

So I'm going to take this opportunity right here to tell you that you'll always be overshadowed by hipster chick mostly for extra-musical reasons.

Who is this "hipster chick"?

[RFKorp]

Who is this "hipster chick"?

his continually on-and-off girlfriend (whose name I'm not going to use for fear of google) of as long as any of us have known David.

though I think it's safe to say the current phase of Off is for good.

[reed]

i just can't figure out why he made so many weird typos. > and : aren't so close together last time i checked.

[Charon]

i just can't figure out why he made so many weird typos. > and : aren't so close together last time i checked.

that's strange, they are on my keyboard.....

[jcg]

i just can't figure out why he made so many weird typos. > and : aren't so close together last time i checked.

that's strange, they are on my keyboard.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keyboard_layout