3 acts outside normal parameters, sloppy design

The Trial of Adorno

"I really must protest, your honour. Digging up my corpse in order to make me stand trial smacks of a medieval attitude towards ideas. The last time this happened was when a Catholic group of heretics reclaimed the body of a dead pope..."

"Mr Adorno, since when did you object to heretical behaviour? You are here to answer the accusation that, through your work, you established an idea of the avant-garde that subscribed to a traditional discourse of art, and privileged the Western Classical Canon. Plus, you were a bit of a racist."

"Objection. Adorno's dislike of jazz and popular music was based on an anxiety that they pandered to audiences, not that they were rooted in any particular racial community."

"Can you explain his rejection of Charlie Parker or Miles Davies without at least wondering why he failed to notice their commitment to rigorous experimentation?"

"If I may speak for myself. You are presenting me with this Mr Goodiepal as an example of how my own enthusiasm for the composition of Stravinsky failed to acknowledge the future possibilities of experimental music. 

Goodiepal's definition of his role - he is an academic and writer, a composer and a philosopher - undeniably fits in with my vision of the erudite musician. That he works in an area that happened after my death hardly negates my position. Could I have been expected to predict the growth of electro-acoustic music? I popped off before Kraftwerk formed."

"But did you not champion the atonal outbursts of the serialists?"

"I am a Marxist. Wouldn't you expect me to like a musical scale in which all notes are equal?"

"But by using electronics, Goodiepal engages with the technology that dominates our lives. By, shall we say, dancing with it, he suggests an alternative practice for us to live with the machines that are becoming our soulless overlords?"

"His altruism is immense. He gave away his goods, and cash. That is not composition, it's conceptual art. And it protects the capitalism model of charity. He is taking cues from Jesus, that old conservative, not Marx. He's the heretic here."

"By defining heresy, Mr Adorno, you recognise your position as the orthodoxy. And that is what we are here to prosecute."

"I wish you'd stop putting words in my mouth."

"Well, until I get access to the University library, don't expect much in the way of footnotes. I'm doing this from memory."

Wink, Techtonics, Sneaky Musings from the past

I have a fundamental belief that every time anyone goes to the theatre, the world becomes a marginally better place. That is because I believe that being part of an audience, and having a shared experience, and being presented with a version of reality, is an intrinsic good. This also applies to art galleries, film showings, music gigs, anything where the artist dictates the location and  time. Community performance is probably even better, but I am still grappling with that.

Combined with this blog's need to be fed (I can't keep the big readership without constant up-dating. That is the way of the web), I am willing to write about as much performance as press agents can provide. Within that, there are plays I can get very enthusiastic about, and others I am less inclined to push.

This is a matter of personal taste. I don't want to become a shrill side-show barker, supporting all of Scotland's theatre indiscriminately. Equally, I don't want to just bang on about experimental physical theatre and ignore anything more mainstream. Just because I am pretentious doesn't mean that there is a true hierarchy of art.

I am  hoping that blogs like this one put my choices in context, and make it clearer why I favour certain artistic endeavours. I am trying to find a way to allow the reader to react to my opinion, and be aware of how I make them.

One trick I am trying is to insult myself. If a flame war begins, I have said far worse about myself.

My faith that the phrase "I don't know" is the best answer for any question more complicated than "what sort of coffee would you like?" has been shaken. After the passionate conviction of the crowds calling for a boycott of Batsheva at The Edinburgh Festival, and reading the spiritual autobiography of one of them out of Penn and Teller, which suggested that "I don't know" was the atheist's catchphrase (actually, I think he meant agnosticism, a far more tentative theology: the laddish antics that he constantly recalls, doubtless in an attempt to make atheism look cool, make me suspect that his brilliance in stage magic is matched by his social idiocy).

I have lazily maintained a bunch of beliefs that I hoped cut down too much metaphysical speculation: that art is intrinsically political by virtue of representing an opinion; that dialogue is the ultimate good; the establishment and all ideologies are inherently suspect and self-interested; criticism is an art form in its own right; atheists and fundamentalist Christians have the same vision of God, only one side rejects it; inclusion is more important than being right. Oh, and every action has both good and bad consequences.

I might style myself an anarchist (I refuse to follow a party-line unless I agree with it, I distrust Marxism and neo-capitalism with the same apathetic sneer), but I have realised that this is just thoughtless liberalism.

Apart from my unwillingness to share a catchphrase with an excellent TV magician, due to his complete lack of intellectual rigour, I have decided that I want a set of beliefs that are neither mind forged manacles nor idle, throwaway evasions. I quite like bits of Marxism, Existentialism, Christianity, Buddhism, Conservatism and Queer Theory in a thoroughly post-modern manner.

Not as much as I like going to see Hivver play a drone set, which is probably why I have fallen down.

The protests outside Batsheva really intrigued me. I want to be able to have an opinion on events like this that is coherent. To be honest, none of the critical responses I read were satisfactory. The Guardian let me down here. While I appreciated the liberal response that tried to see both sides, the comparison of the Israeli Government with Pussy Riot betrayed the paper's fascination with the latest drama.

I do have an opinion on the boycott, but I am not ready to put it out into the world until I know whether I can support it. This isn't about right and wrong - I am way past believing that there is an absolute answer. It's about having beliefs that encourage me to take responsibility for my actions, and grounding them not in the opinions of others, but through  my personality and intelligence.

Of course, that scuppers the project from the start. Perhaps my best bet is to have a few chats with people who might know what they are talking about.