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Do you belive in katharsis?
 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 12:36 [#01622622]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker



I think most of you guys know this already, but here`s some
definitions to get you more in touch witch this issue:

Katharsis is a Greek word, which, generally speaking, means
purification of emotional tensions through a contact with a
work of art. (In this case of course with music).

Or "Purification or cleansing of oneself through undergoing
an overwhelming emotional experience. Originated from
Aristoteles' description of tragic drama, "a katharsis of
pity and terror".

Or "Greek word, usually translated as "purgation," which
Aristotle used in his definition of tragedy. For some, it
refers to the vicarious cleansing of certain emotions in the
audience through their representation onstage."

My question is simple: do you think that this kind of
process/feeling is authentic (here, now, in our times), or
at least possible? Any experiences?



 

offline Raz0rBlade_uk on 2005-06-04 12:45 [#01622635]
Points: 12540 Status: Addict | Show recordbag



isn't it Catharsis?


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 12:47 [#01622638]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker



it is, also.


 

offline Bob Mcbob on 2005-06-04 12:47 [#01622639]
Points: 9939 Status: Regular



oh yeah, i purify my emotions all the time...


 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-04 12:48 [#01622642]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular



I think music is certainly used as an outlet for any
overwhelming emotion. I have many CDs that are reserved for
when I feel a particular way. For example if I feel really
depressed I'll begin by playing something downbeat like
Indie and then switch to some more uplifting stuff. It's a
way of pulling through really bad experiences and I find
comfort in it.

Goths do the same through their emo also in my experience I
have found them to become dependant on feeling a certain air
of depression simply so that they can listen to their
depressing style of music. It's not always a good thing.

not sure if that embodies Katharsis but that's as far as
I'll read into it...


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 12:53 [#01622648]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker | Followup to DeleriousWeasel: #01622642



it`s close, maybe, but i think catharsis is an more intense
feeling, it`s not only somethin` making you feel better


 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-04 12:59 [#01622658]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular | Followup to _gvarek_: #01622648



intense in what way?

Do you have a particular song which stands out amongst all
others which fills you with this intense feeling?

I think I know what you mean...'Youth Overrided' by Cave In
is a slow reminiscent Indie Rock song in the Coldplay mode
which I first hear on the radio during a particularly low
point of my life. I limit to hearing it only when I feel
really depressed about a girl or something like that. I
can't describe the emotion that song gives me if I hear it
when I'm feeling low but it's a mix of past memories and
fills me with an overwhelming urge to let everything out and
simply sit down with a bottle of alcohol and reminisce over
failed dreams and missed chances.

*sorry I'm rambling* -_-


 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-04 13:00 [#01622660]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular



*first heard


 

offline Anus_Presley on 2005-06-04 13:00 [#01622661]
Points: 23472 Status: Lurker



no i don't rreally


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 13:04 [#01622668]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker | Followup to DeleriousWeasel: #01622660



i got plenty of such songs, but they`re my sweetest secret
:-)

example:
J.M. Jarre - Souvenire of China.
Cocteau Twis - I wear your ring.



 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-04 13:07 [#01622674]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular | Followup to _gvarek_: #01622668



I have only the one, though I think it must be something
similar to katharsis, if not that itself because if someone
else heard the song it would probably be a normal and not
particularly interesting song to them.

have you ever found that you can really like a particular
song but when you play it to someone else and are listening
to it hoping they'll like it too you seem to find flaws in
it (eg. the chorus is a bit slow)? Perhaps it's just me but
the feeling you get of the song losing value could be a sort
of loss of kathersis.


 

offline mappatazee from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2005-06-04 13:18 [#01622683]
Points: 14294 Status: Lurker



I feel different/good after watching a particularly good
film, so for me, I guess so


 

offline hedphukkerr from mathbotton (United States) on 2005-06-04 13:18 [#01622684]
Points: 8833 Status: Regular



there are only a few songs that give me goosebumps, and im
guessing thats about as close as im gonna get to catharsis.
stuff like radiohead - idioteque, pixies - where is my mind?
and clouddead - dead dogs two. those kinds of songs just
give me the shivers and i go "god, this is music."


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 13:20 [#01622687]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker | Followup to hedphukkerr: #01622684



shivers, that could be the point here


 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-04 13:22 [#01622689]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular | Followup to _gvarek_: #01622687



thanks for raising this really intellectual point, it's got
me thinking....something I don't do enough of.

I'm downloading your katharsical song by Jean Michel Jarre
and will get back to you if I feel anything intense too :)


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 13:23 [#01622691]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker | Followup to DeleriousWeasel: #01622674



It`s all about getting an emotional boost, the track quality
is not most important. Look at my example: many people will
tell you that Jarre is lame, cheesy, anf kitschy, but i
wouldn`t exchange this song for all Beethoves`s symphonies.


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 13:24 [#01622693]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker | Followup to DeleriousWeasel: #01622689



try the 2 versions: one, original, from the "Concerts in
China" album, and the re-done one from his new "Aero".


 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-04 13:29 [#01622696]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular



I see what you mean about the katharsis...though I'd
probably describe it more as a sensation of melancholia. Not
really music created by Jarre, more or a form of audio art.
The camera shutters are certainly interesting and I'd not
term it cheesy...I probabky don't get the same feeling you
do from it but it is undoubtably powerful stuff for someone
in a particular frame of mind.

I heard the Concert in China vol.2 version.


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 13:37 [#01622706]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker | Followup to DeleriousWeasel: #01622696



Melancholia, yes, you`re right. Keep this song and play it
when you feel that way (sad, depressed, troubled etc.), and
think about the result (more depresed, or.. cleansed).

If you`re not only into electronica, i suggest Mike
Oldfield`s "Far above the clouds", somethin` completly
different.


 

offline thatne from United States on 2005-06-04 14:04 [#01622731]
Points: 3026 Status: Lurker



yes, of course. have you ever listened to TOOL, or did an
lsd-25. yes, you have, so get off my nutzzz.


 

offline clint from Silencio... (United Kingdom) on 2005-06-04 14:05 [#01622732]
Points: 3447 Status: Lurker



I think so.

If catharsis is some sort of purging of emotion, or sudden
life-changing realisation, which is the kinda romantic way
to view it. I'd like to think so. I have been to one or two
gigs where I'd thought the experience pretty 'cathartic' -
as in seriously shudderingly goose-pimple inducing,
especially when I was younger when I was less cynical, where
I have come away in a completely new excited mindset to when
I came in...

I did about the whole Greek drama catharsis thing in
college, I certainly think it exists, but I'm not sure
whether anyone could be permanently purged, but then
again I dont think anyone claimed that it was permanent. I'm
talking in terms of all art here, especially the dramatic
arts.


 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-04 14:18 [#01622752]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular | Followup to clint: #01622732



can art really give the same katharsic emotions that music
can though? I find some portraits particularly powerful,
such as 'The Scream' though it doesn't strike the same chord
(no pun intended) as certain music does...

_gvarek_ I will download some Oldfield, thanx :)


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 14:28 [#01622768]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker



Music is certainly the most powerfull of arts since it`s so
direct, next comes poetry, then painting (Picasso, El Greco,
Bacon).

For me the combination of good poetry and music
(simultaneously) does the trick. Completly.


 

offline clint from Silencio... (United Kingdom) on 2005-06-04 14:31 [#01622772]
Points: 3447 Status: Lurker



I meant art as in artistic creation, not art gallery stuff.
I'm talking about everything - music, painting, film,
whatever. Its all one and the same. But incidently I do
believe its possible to get that effect from a painting, but
you have to be in the right mindset. A lot of people break
down upon witnessing a beautiful painting or something,
especially religious stuff I guess.

I was at the Bill Viola exhibition last year its not exactly
painting but its close - there was a whole lotta greif
happening there.


 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-04 14:38 [#01622780]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular | Followup to clint: #01622772



really? wow I would love to be at something like that and
have people really emotional around me...I went on a retreat
to a benedictine abbey with CS2x before I really knew him as
part of our college group and we both had a sort of
religious experience there. I'm not particularly a devout
catholic but the whole atmosphere of this place deep in the
middle of nowhere at night in a dimly lit abbey with hooded
monks wandering the halls was something which I've never
felt before and I felt a sort of emotional turnoil and
holiness inside me...I suppose it might be seen as a form of
katharsis even though it wasn't linked to art.


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 14:39 [#01622783]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker | Followup to clint: #01622772



yes, art is about the "same", that is about expression of
human spirit, about creating beauty, but music is the
shortest way to achieve it.


 

offline clint from Silencio... (United Kingdom) on 2005-06-04 15:11 [#01622815]
Points: 3447 Status: Lurker | Followup to _gvarek_: #01622783



I dont know, I think its a combination thats that ultimate.
Like how you said poetry and music is the best - well what
about throwing in something visual? Which is why I think
film is the ultimate artform but its kinda difficult to
exploit because its so dependent on money and actors wheras
music and literature you don't need anything but yourself
really

The biggest goose-pimple inducing moments I've had have been
at the cinema I think

- Lost in Translation, the bit in the taxi, 'Sometimes' by
MBV with sleeping Scarlett & the hazy neon of night Tokyo
city centre accompanying - perfect

- An emo one this, sorry - the bag scene in American Beauty,
awesome Newman piano ambience accompanying 2 lovers sitting
tearfully with overlaying monologue about beauty

- Mulholland Drive, at Club Silencio, the 'Llorando'
accapella reverberating whilst the women break into tears.


 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-04 15:15 [#01622823]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular | Followup to clint: #01622815



the scene in 'What Women Want' where Mel Gibson dances to
Frank Sinatra against a backdrop of New York at night from
his penthouse apartment windows....it really is sublime and
such a romantic and perfectly constructed visual moment. It
got me into Sinatra for sure, though the rest of the film
wasn't anything special.


 

offline clint from Silencio... (United Kingdom) on 2005-06-04 15:18 [#01622830]
Points: 3447 Status: Lurker | Followup to DeleriousWeasel: #01622780



Well I exaggerate but there were a few tears shed. But I
know that there are some pretty full on emo responses to his
stuff, I actually did a project on this whole principle in
his work for a piece of coursework a couple of years ago.

LAZY_TITLE

LAZY_TITLE


 

offline clint from Silencio... (United Kingdom) on 2005-06-04 15:19 [#01622832]
Points: 3447 Status: Lurker | Followup to DeleriousWeasel: #01622823



What Women Want?? Ur emo.


 

offline _gvarek_ from next to you (Poland) on 2005-06-04 15:25 [#01622835]
Points: 4882 Status: Lurker



Film is easy-accesible, since you get picture-sound-music at
once. I`m not a big move fan though, for me it`s too
difficult to "embrace" a whole movie experience. And it`s
not as intense as music, too time-stretched.

Nevertheless my favourite movie would be "Blade Runner":
based on a book by my favourite author Philip K. Dick, an
with Vangelis` music; some disturbing moments there.

Quite a good combination would be painting with music, as
Vangelis did with his "El Greco" album (superb!), but it`s
very difficult to accomplish.



 

offline zaphod from the metaverse on 2005-06-04 18:15 [#01622937]
Points: 4428 Status: Addict



the most cathartic piece of art i've ever experienced was
movie, and a slow one at that. "ikiru", probably akira
kurasawa's greatest film. the end is sublime.
i think catharsis can come randomly, but i'd generally say
book>movies>music for cathartic value. the more time you
invest the more pay off.


 

offline DeleriousWeasel from Guam on 2005-06-05 05:46 [#01623142]
Points: 2953 Status: Regular | Followup to clint: #01622832



I'm not emo! thats Frank Sinatra......


 

offline N-gon from Vero Beach (United States) on 2005-06-05 07:42 [#01623190]
Points: 72 Status: Regular



Art uses a lot of the right side of the brain. The right
side of the brain stores human emotion responses. So, I'd
say not only does the viewer/listener go into a state of
catharsis, but the creator of the piece of art goes into a
similar state while making the piece of art.

I've had people tell me that some tracks I've done make them
feel one way or another, emotionally. But sometimes they
feel 2 or 3 different emotions at once. A strange thing is,
someone may think of happiness when they hear it, while
someone else may think of sadness or something disturbing
when they hear it.


 

offline i_x_ten from arsemuncher on 2005-06-05 07:48 [#01623192]
Points: 10031 Status: Regular



we do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.


 

offline clint from Silencio... (United Kingdom) on 2005-06-05 08:09 [#01623207]
Points: 3447 Status: Lurker | Followup to i_x_ten: #01623192



Nice!


 


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