The way Fripp judges his work…

Sounds like a good excuse for stuff that sucks.

Yeah, the problem is that both revolutionary creativity and self-indulgent junk generate the same audience reaction. So you can’t use the audience reaction as a reliable indicator of creativity.

J.: really?

Douglas Engelbart was kicked out of the research community.

The guy who started FedEx got a “C” for his business plan.

Steve Wozniak was told by his bosses that they didn’t believe that personal computers were gonna be a big deal.

Yes Robert, but didn’t those three examples merely offend the self-styled “We Know Business” elite? “Artists” (musicians, etc.), though they also tend to offend the elite, usually excuse their poor work by saying that their “creativity” merely offended the unwashed masses, as if their product is Too Good to be understood. There are some instances where this is the case, but it happens more often that 99% of everybody just thinks that the “work of art” is worthless.

I’d speculate that the “strength of a creative impulse is measured by the strength of opposition it meets” idea isn’t much more than a coping mechanism.

Nederlands musician Rene Vis sent me a quote by Captain Beefheart, from Beef’s web site, circa 1970:

“I want to give my music out for free, because where I got it, it was free.”

Meaning: musicians don’t pay for the musical ideas that come to them.

Down with the RIAA.

robert, i’m on yr side.

notice the opposition to this idea of opposition.

ppl don’t like to hear that genius ideas may start and remain a long time unpopular.

underachievers don’t even try to make anything new or radical.

mediocrity is its own punishment.

electrica -

I didn’t necessarily say that I was opposed to the idea of opposition… But wouldn’t you agree that it’s much easier for anyone to say “They just don’t understand my genius,” when in fact the “art” is just really bad? Clearly there are exceptions to this, and at times good art will be unpopular. But I’m far from ready to get behind the statement that even 75% of the *ahem* “artwork” in the modern wing of my local museum is worth glancing at, much less paying to see.

Saying this, I don’t want anyone to think that any of what I said is a criticism of Mr. Fripp’s work, as I’ve never experienced it. I’m just taking issue with his standard for successful creativity.

I’d heard it said that the opposite of love is not hatred, but apathy. Truly creative work has often brought fierce opposition. In the art world, see reaction to Monet’s introduction of the vision that became the Impressionist Movement. In music, look back at the reaction to Stravinsky’s radical work, such as “Rite of Spring”. In political analysis, see the work of Noam Chomsky. In modern music, listen to Robert Fripp.

Fripp needs no excuse for the body of art that he has produced to this point, nor for the impulse that led to the diary entry that has been the source of our comments.