"Art bands"

[John Brainlove]

What does a band have to do to be an 'art band'?
Have an artist as a member?
Come at music from an artistic angle?
Be a conceptual art piece as well as a band?
So what would an art band look like... The Dresden Dolls? Devo? Talking Heads? The $hit? Milgram?

[Tom-From-Sparks]

An art band I always classed as a band who met though a love of art perhaps meeting at art college. I believe an art band will allow their love of art to influence their work.

I hate how anything with skreetching guitars or style is described as art-punk.

I believe you could call the Ikara Colt an art band as they have all produced works of art and have a clear love for it.

[ana milgram]

Hmm, tricky, I think if we're being purist, you should only really call something an art band if it's an artwork in the form of a band. This is also different from artists making audio works as artworks.

Maybe there should be another term for bands that met at art school, or put their artistic sensibilities into their band, "arthouse" band, like films? nah maybe not.

[stuartmilgram]

I think that as with a lot of things in the art world, it depends on the concept of intentionality.

This shouldn't be confused with the 'intentions' of the artist, which is simply what the artist conciously 'meant' to do or mean, but is a term from the philosophical field of phenomenology.

The artist's intentionality in the act of making the work is the entire set of subjectivities present within the artist; their intentions, their belief systems, their psyche, basically what makes them who they are. It's an active process of negotiation with the artist and the work.

At least that's my current understanding of it.

Basically, the band need to BE artists, be aware that they are making art/being art, and making something that can be described as music rather than sonic art. Kinda leads to the question "what is music?" as well as "what is art?" when you consider people like john cage or John Zorn.

[ana milgram]

You answer these things way too seriously, Stuart

;D

[stuartmilgram]

GET BENT, HELL SPAWN

[John Brainlove]

Now, now kids... ;D

I like stuarts definition because it acknowledges the different approach that someone from an art background might have when it comes to making music without saying that it's better/worse ::: I am always aware that the way my brain is put together (when it comes to making things) was massively influenced by 6 years of art school. And while the Junkplanet music and The $hit etc isn't strictly art, there's definitely some kinda symbiotic art-music interplay at work.

[stuartmilgram]

SHIT... Milgram had a piece of "music" accepted for a project called Radio Taxi on a council estate in Cambridgeshire... does that mean we have to pretend to be real now? Admittedly it was only a remix of the sound of a destroyed piano being reassembled with a fake organ mixed ontop, but do we have to go on the road now or can we keep hiding?

NOTE
if anyone goes to the milgram site to listen, it's track 8

[Monpot]

I don't agree with the idea of a band who went to an art school as necessarily being and art band. Dangerous_Doug and I are at an art college, and all the bands that seem to have formed are either "punk" nonsense or emo nonsense, with nothing particularly 'arty' about any of them.

Part of me thinks this is because it's more of a technical art college, there's no Fine Art course on offer or anything like that (majority of the college is based around the animation course). We're not really taught anything in the way of critical theory, art history, or about more conecptual stuff.

Another part of me thinks it's because the college is located in The Valleys, the cultural wilderness that spewed forth Funeral For A Friend and Lost Prophets (or 'loztprohetz' as they used to be known )

[prettyvacant]

I think that the term "art band" tends only to be used at the moment as an nme-like reference to bands who wear scarves and sound a bit like the cure.
i think the term "art band" is a bit of a ridiculous concept anyway, because in my mind, all music is art (be it good or bad)

[cadd]

Joe Strummer, Mick Jones and Paul Simonon were all at art school at some point.

I wouldn't have minded going but buggered up my higher.

For any practicing artists on the board, I was really into it and got into the whole smoking dope and drawing thing. Then got into just smoking more dope rather than drawing and completely fizzled out. Do you think dope enhances or kills artistic creativity ?

Haven't been to my art class for about 9 months, the 10 oclock start scuppered it even though it's only a 5 minute walk away. Bone idle even minus the dope now

[ana milgram]

cadd said:

Do you think dope enhances or kills artistic creativity ?

Depends, but frankly it makes it impossible to actually do anything towards having a career as an artist, which is essentially a 14 hour a day job, at least. You need to be fuelled on some weird effluent of art itself, so all other drugs fade into insignificance.

PrettyVacant said:

i think the term "art band" is a bit of a ridiculous concept anyway, because in my mind, all music is art (be it good or bad)

OK, but I think there is a difference between bands whose main aim is to make music, entertain, have a laugh, make money and all the usual stuff (which there's nothing wrong with) and bands whose main aim is to create an audio & performance art work. It sounds a bit wanky, but I think if it works well it's fantastic, because it has the dumb thrills of a live performance, but taps into a different part of the audience's head as well.

Don't ask me to name any times it works though, I'm mostly basing this on what I'd like to be doing if I had any musical ability.

[DrFurry]

To me, an art band is one that exists solely to deliver the music that the members hear in their head. It doesn't matter what genre, if they hear the music, believe it's good and then go out to deliver that music to a world or to themselves, then they fulfill the criteria. PAssion is essential, I'm utterly miserable right now about being back in the UK living with my family for they lack passion, a real desire to further oneself and energise their lives.

[prettyvacant]

ana said:

OK, but I think there is a difference between bands whose main aim is to make music, entertain, have a laugh, make money and all the usual stuff (which there's nothing wrong with) and bands whose main aim is to create an audio & performance art work.

fair point. naively, i didnt actually consider bands who were in it for the money.
but i think that same can be applied to all forms of art. i know plenty of people who do beautiful landscape paintings just to make a bit of quick money. do these paintings then cease to be art? or are they simply a different form of artwork?
this question has bugged me for ages. ive probably not phrased it precisely how i mean, but it's 5.30 in the morning (and im going to bed)

[DrFurry]

I think you could answer that question by sitting down watching Revenge of the Sith followed by anything Luis Bunuel has ever created. Both are still works of an artistic nature but each has a totally different manifesto and purpose.