A Useful metric for finding Great Art
As always when we use the word Art we do not mean just the graphic or plastic arts, but also musical and literary art forms.
In the previous critical article To Speak Meaningfully About Art we said that anyone who used to do this thing, speaking meaningfully about art, should be able to order art into 4 basic categories:
- Art that is good and to your taste
- Art that is bad and to your taste
- Art that is good and not to your taste
- Art that is bad and not to your taste.
Now the phrase ‘to your taste’ implies that you like something, and ‘not to your taste’ implies that you do not like it, but this is not exactly the case — to your taste means it is the kind of thing you generally like, so probably if a piece of art is to your taste then you will like it whether it is bad or good, and if a piece of art is not to your taste you will probably not like it irrespective of its quality. But this is not always the case.
Obviously it requires great self-knowledge to be able to tell if something that you do not like is to your taste, or if something that you do like is not to your taste but with enough practice with the 4 aforementioned categories it becomes relatively easy. The practice of splitting art into the categories we are dealing with increases your introspection and understanding of your own tastes.
Thus we can say that if something is to your taste and you do not like it, it increases the chance of it being bad or at least not very worthwhile. Many movies made by Netflix that they suggest you watch will most likely fall into this category of Things that are to your taste that you do not like (I’m just guessing here based on my experience but also what I have read of other people), the algorithms that Netflix uses to decide what to make are good enough to define what we like to see but Netflix then thinks it can skip making something worth watching knowing that they have something you will watch, the outcome being that you watch something and at the end you feel sort of cheated and maybe you like the sort of thing you like just a little bit less.
Of course nobody really care about bad art, other than avoiding it. About Art one only wants to know if it is good — this is why it was recommended in To Speak Meaningfully About Art that critics should avoid writing negative criticism about bad art — because it doesn’t make much sense writing about something that nobody cares about.
This is why I am not going to comment on what specific movies or shows on Netflix were to my taste but just not good enough for me to enjoy although good enough for me to watch all the way through because it was the kind of thing I liked and maybe it would improve. Who cares really?
So this is where it becomes interesting — if you find something that is not to your taste and you like it, perhaps even love it, then there is a very good chance it is good — which as we’ve already said is the only thing one really cares about art.
So what kinds of things are to my taste — well in music:
Talking Heads — Life During Wartime
Ezra Furman — Suck the blood from my Wound
Prince — Uptown
Pokey LaForge — Fuck Me Up
DJ Shadow — Nobody Speak
Bob Dylan — Tangled Up in Blue
My taste is for wordy songs with lots of clever phrasing. it’s a plus if the songs are fast and aggressive. Now obviously my tastes are quite a bit broader than that and there are all sorts of layers and subcategories of things to my taste, whole genres that appeal to me, but this gives a close enough approximation of what will get me to listen
Here are some songs that are not to my taste
Billy Joel — She’s always a Woman
Elton John — Your Song
basically lachrymal songs with verbal expressions that are somewhat simple if not actually simplistic — my sad songs I like with the clever word play and the sad person is maybe totally out of their gourd with longing or emotional pain like, say Elvis Costello — I want You or Lou Reed — The Kids and my love songs I don’t know, more uplifting. These goddamn Hallmark cards make me want to break things, which the songs I like make me want to break things to, but somehow the feelings just not the same.
So now the scene has been set, two songs that are not to my taste — and I hope given my examples that you will think hey those are not to IG Agent 13’s taste.
The Beatles — Yesterday
The Beatles — Something
These are songs that are often described as great, by a group that is often described as great. But as I was thinking to myself lately about the song Yesterday, prompted an article about the songwriting skills of Mr. McCartney, I think they might actually be great! (The article made me think about how it was not to my taste, but I like a great deal, which led to me thinking about Something which is also not to my taste and which I like)
Now before we go on and just in case you think he likes them just because they are the Beatles, here’s another song not to my taste which I absolutely hate, definitely more than I hate Your Song, which I suppose you would think yeah that song would not be to Agent 19's taste:
The Beatles — Michelle
God I hate that song. Play the damn Helter Skelter thing again McCartney!
So I could go on about why I think these songs are great, but that is beside the point (of this article at least, although very far from beside the point about art), or I could make the rude point that the movie Yesterday would be a perfect example of a movie that should be to my taste but I only ever think about to get annoyed at how bad it was which I guess I just did. (no offense to the actors who I quite liked)
The point is that with a sufficient understanding of your own taste and what you like that transcends your taste you have a likely indicator of greatness, and it may repay further thinking later as to what greatness in the work attracted you despite yourself. So, think about it.
This Article was written by Agent 13 and IG Agent 19.
Other critical writings and reviews can be found at https://medium.com/luminasticity/criticism/home
