Wonkyung Cha, Levi Lindsey, Elizabeth Korsmo
Abstract
Fine art brings people together, overcoming cultural barriers and creating a common humanity. In this project, we intend to explore art across cultural boundaries: Who partakes of Art? How is Art regarded? What role does Art play in the everyday life of people? By performing a cross-cultural comparison of how arts are regarded in both Berlin and Seattle, we hope to gain insight into the cultural differences and, more importantly, similarities between the two cities. Berlin’s unique status as a Mecca of the art world will allow us to explore a plethora of venues in both visual and performance art. Our preferred methods of acquiring insight include viewing performances and galleries, interviewing artists and observing our fellow audience members. Through this project, we intend to better understand how people with different cultural backgrounds relate to art and how art transcends human differences.
Background
All the members of our group personally identify as artists (either visual artists or musicians), and are excited to visit such an esteemed art center as Berlin. Our cultural and physical removal from the scene of the research naturally poses the question of how perception of art differs across national boundaries. Through critical analysis of these differences, we hope to better understand art on an international scale.
Preliminary difficulties have included indecision and uncertainty in forming coherent research topics and methods. Our primary anticipated problems in Berlin regard our communications (such as ordering tickets and interviewing subjects).
Individual Research Questions
Wonkyung, “How does public art in Berlin differ from that in Seattle?”
As an artist, I think it is important to look at works of others and experience different art forms followed by other cultures. This summer, I will do my research in Berlin. A place I've never been to, and also a place where I don't speak the language. My medium is fibers. I also like to work with sculpture, ceramics and screen printing.
In the summer, I would like to conduct research on public arts in Berlin. I would like to focus more on visual arts; paintings, pictures, and also sculptures displayed in public spaces. More specifically, I want to compare public arts in Seattle to Berlin. For example, here in Seattle there are whimsical sculptures in Pike Place Market where lots of visitors come for tourism. Also, the sculptures are for those of who live in the local area to simply enjoy the art. Public arts are fun to look at; however, I believe that there are some meaningful reasons why they are displayed at certain places and why in such forms. A while ago, I went to the Pike Place Market with friends; I found bronze piggybank, Rachel. It was a piece of historic public art which had meaning to it. Rachel came for the Market Foundation during the Market's 79th birthday in 1986. People come and feed Rachel with spare change and with currency from different countries in Asia, Europe, the Americas, etc. Research I did on Rachel said by 2006, Market visitors contributed almost up to $9,000 to the Market Foundation by adding to Rachel's bank. Rachel was created by Georgia Gerber, a sculptor who lives on Whidbey Island, Washington. She was named after a real 750-pound pig named Rachel, the 1985 winner of the Island County Fair. Rachel's favorite holiday is March 1, National Pig Day. Rachel weighs about 550 pounds. I would like to further stretch my research while I'm in Berlin, finding the hidden meaning of many public arts and also how people react to them; how Berliners react to public arts where they probably see it very often, if not every day, and how tourists to the public arts. I want to research what people think about the public arts; how many people think carefully about the meaning behind them and the availability of public art in Berlin.
Levi, “How does the importance of classical music compare to the importance of popular music in Berlin, and how does this comparison compare to its equivalent in Seattle?”
For my research topic I chose to focus on classical music in Berlin – especially classical vocal music. I am a vocal performance major, so this subject is naturally appealing to me. I experienced quite a bit of trouble deciding on a specific question to address in this broad topic, but I finally decided on this: how does the importance of classical music compare to the importance of popular music in Berlin, and how does this comparison compare to its equivalent in Seattle? For a while I wanted to ask a very similar question regarding the “decline” of classical music; I believe that this question didn’t quite specify what exactly I intended to focus on which is more or less a ratio of the importance of classical music vs. the importance of popular music.
This question is certainly relevant in today’s society. Music is a large part of virtually everyone’s lives, and most types of music cross all social and ethnic boundaries in ways that nothing else can. Nearly everyone values music, and there is a huge rise in the value and importance of music in today’s societies due to the huge advances in audio technology in the last century. Music doesn’t have to be reperformed every time someone wants to tap their feet to a tune; they can simply plug-in their mp3 player, or flip-on the radio. The genres most benefitted by these technological advances are popular genres; many people still feel strongly that classical music loses much of its appeal when heard through speakers and not directly from the performers’ fingers. So the question of how the importance of popular music compares to the importance of classical music in today’s society is certainly applicable.
Finding an answer to this question should fairly manageable. From my preliminary research I know that classical music in Berlin, and especially opera, is heavily funded by the government – even though they are in massive dept; so information such as ticket sales, fiscal data and such should be available to the public. Also, I can collect data from individuals regarding the importance of these respective musical genres in their lives. Between venues and individuals, I have plenty of accessible information.
Elizabeth “How does music transcend cultural boundaries?”
I will be looking at instrumental classical music in Berlin, and comparing it to the experience of classical music in America. My first query is “How does classical music transcend cultural barriers?” I expect that it does, language barriers aside. Given the close history between American and European music (America’s classical music heritage is essentially all European), I would expect little difference between an American and a German classical concert. Preliminary research into the Berlin Philharmonic’s summer concert line-up would seem to support this expectation: works by composers such as Brahms, Shostakovich and Wagner are in the repertoire.
Beyond examining my personal experience, I also intend to look to the arts-patrons for understanding of how music transcends culture. I mean to do this through observation of the audience (at intermission and before/after concerts). I will be looking for age ranges, language(s) favored in conversation, and general ethnic diversity. Interviews could also prove useful; however the selection bias would likely nullify their use in this case. I would also like, if possible, to compare different concert crowds with each other. For instance, I would expect that an evening orchestra concert would attract an older and somewhat wealthier clientele than a free afternoon chamber concert (which would be more likely to draw families, students and other persons of limited means).
The month of September looks to be especially good for observation: the “musikfest Berlin” will be going on, with concerts presented nearly every night by orchestras from all over Europe (including the London Symphony Orchestra. Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, and Orchestre de Paris). There are also a number of both evening and matinee performances by the Philharmonic.
Research Methods
Our research methods vary with the individual project. Among other things, members of our group will attend musical performances, research venues of artistic merit (memorials, galleries, and public art), observe art patrons and their interactions with art, and interview Berliners regarding their relations to art and its role in their lives.
Elizabeth is not comfortable with talking to people whom she does not know (especially in a language she does not speak fluently and under circumstances in which the other parties may not be interested in being bothered at all). Thus, she is shying away from direct interviews, preferring to discern Berliners’ (and their visitors’) artistic preferences from observation of their behavior and habits at artistic venues. As only public, large-scale data will be taken, privacy is not of great concern. Depth of information is limited in this way, but breadth is readily available. The sort of information to be ascertained focuses mainly on age demographics, spoken language, ethnic background and demonstrated affluence (in order to better understand who is involved in art). By comparing different audiences, Elizabeth hopes to better understand who is attending instrumental performances in Berlin.
Levi intends two collect information through two main methods: interviewing/surveying individuals, and attempting to obtain business records (such as ticket sales, number of performances, budget) from musical venues. He will collect this data in both Seattle and Berlin and through a comparison of these numerical results he should be able to acquire definitive, quantitative conclusions. Some sample survey questions he will be asking people include: how much time do you spend listening to music during an average day (on the radio, at work, at home, etc.)?; how much of this music would you say is classical?; around how many live musical performances do you usually attend in a year?; how many of these performances would you say include classical music?; do you sing or play an instrument?; do you usually perform classical music or music of a different genre?; do you prefer listening to classical music or music of other genres? The biggest anticipated problems with this research relate to obtaining business histories from musical venues. Finding relevant information from classical venues and opera houses should be easy enough, because they receive HUGE amounts of funding from the government -- even though the government is in massive and deepening dept; the relevant data here should be available to the public. The foreseeable difficulties lie in obtaining popular venue information; these will be more privately run and there will be a lot more venues to look at, so finding the relevant information for popular music may be very difficult or even impossible to manage. If this is the case, Levi will still have plenty of applicable data from surveys and will at least be able to compare classical music in Berlin and Seattle.
Won-Kyung intends to use methods of observation, and will actually go to the place where the arts are to conduct field research and observe the people there. She believes these methods are critical to her research because she will not know what forms of public arts are available unless she actually goes to the place of the art; she will not know how different people react to the arts unless she observes them for certain periods of time. Interviewing people will also be important because she won't always be able to distinguish where they are from and what they actually think about the arts solely from observation. By applying these methods of research, she thinks her biggest obstacle will be the language. Speaking English may not be enough to communicate effectively.
For the interview, she will ask first where they are from, second, whether they are tourists or Berliners, and depending on their answer, she will then ask what they think of the art – including whether they know if it has any historic meaning behind it – or simply what they think and how they feel about it.
Cultural Sensitivity
In designing surveys, we will refrain from asking unnecessarily personal questions or in fact from collecting any identifying data beyond general demographics (no names will be used). As needed, subjects will be recruited through contacts at Humboldt University.
Daily Schedule
Preliminary Research: Levi: collect survey data from Seattleites over the course of the summer and try to find performance/attendance data for the Seattle Opera and the Seattle Symphony. Also, purchase tickets for Berlin performances. Elizabeth: attend performances in Seattle (hone crowd-watching technique and gain reference data), finalize and order tickets for Berlin performances (listed performances represent a few preliminary choices, more will be added). Won-Kyung: TBA
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
25-Aug
26-Aug
27-Aug
28-Aug
29-Aug
30-Aug
31-Aug
Levi: attend Fidelio at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Won-Kyung: find and research art venue/object #1
Levi: attend Staatsoper für alle at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden Won-Kyung: find and research art venue/object #2
1-Sep
2-Sep
3-Sep
4-Sep
5-Sep
6-Sep
7-Sep
Levi: attend STAATSKAPELLE BERLIN at the Philharmonie Berlin
Levi: attend Tristan und Isolde at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden *(depending on time availability) Elizabeth: attend Simón Bolívar Youth Orchestra (performing Stravinky and Tschaikovsky) at Philharmonie Berlin
Won-Kyung: find and research art venue/object #3
Won-Kyung: find and research art venue/object #4
Won-Kyung: find and research art venue/object #5
Won-Kyung: find and research art venue/object #6
8-Sep
9-Sep
10-Sep
11-Sep
12-Sep
13-Sep
14-Sep
Elizabeth: Lunch Concert in Philharmonie Foyer(?)
Won-Kyung: find and research art venue/object #7
Won-Kyung: find and research art venue/object #8
Levi: attend The Flying Dutchman at the Deutsche Oper Berlin Elizabeth: Berlin Philharmonic (performing Schreker and Bruckner) Won-Kyung: find and research art venue/object #9
15-Sep
16-Sep
17-Sep
18-Sep
19-Sep
20-Sep
21-Sep
Levi: attend Rigoletto at the Deutsche Oper Berlin
Levi: attend IL BARBIERE DI SIVIGLIA at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden *(depending on time availability) Elizabeth: Lunch Concert in Philharmonie Foyer(?)
Bibliography
Berlin Philharmonic
Musikfest Berlin
OPER IN BERLIN
