Inspired by the recent advances in AI including Tilly Norwood, an AI “actress”, and a song by Tocanna, an AI “singer”.
Is there a term for artists, whether musicians, painters, writers, actors, etc. that are technically proficient but are lacking in the “artistic” side of their chosen craft? Are there any actual flesh and blood artists that you would put into that group?
Would that be a malmsteen?
That’s a new term to me. The only Malmsteen I’m familiar with off the top of my head is Swedish musician Yngwie Malmsteen. I’ve listened to his music, and I don’t think he would fall into that category. In fact he was a pioneer in the genre of fusing baroque and classical music with metal.
I was trying to be funny. My apparently misinformed impression was that Yngwie is known for his fast, technically skilled guitar playing, but at the expense of artistry.
A name did just pop up into my head, from a prior thread on this board. The painter Thomas Kinkade. Who are some other Kinkade’s, not just in the world of painting, but in any other area of art? Is there a specific term for artists like Kinkade?
How do we feel about Steve Vai? Clearly one of the best technical guitarists ever, but I’ve never heard anything actually written and performed by him that moved me emotionally…
Soulless.
Excellent. I like it. That seems like the perfect term for these so called AI “artists” that are now coming on the scene.
My ex-wife was and is a classical musician who has played in several orchestras and she would often throw around the phrase “Creative Sterility” to describe technically great performers who just mechanically translate the notes in front of them like some kind of player piano.
As someone who falls into that category (along with copywriters, session musicians, cover bands, graphic artists, illustrators, etc.) I’m happy to embrace the term “technically proficient” or - better yet - “craftsperson.”
Or, if you want to insult them, “hack.”
I get you. This song comes close, IMHO:
This is how I tend to think of Lawrence Welk, Liberace, and a few others. They could play, but there just didn’t seem to be any passion to it. A performer should work up a bit of a sweat, or at least have a hair out of place.
I’m 39 years old and so Liberace is just a meme to me. I knew about his flaboyant costumes and decor, and that he was kind of a punch line for “gay.” But I had never heard or seen him play the piano. So I looked up some videos of that. I would not describe him as lacking artistry or passion. No he’s not working up a sweat, and he definitely doesn’t have a hair out of place, but his body language clearly conveys passion and heart.
Lawrence Welk is another person who’s just sort of a meme before memes were a thing. I’ve only ever seen references to him as an example of something lame and out of touch that old people might like, and those references are like 40 years out of date to begin with. So I looked him up. What exactly could he be doing differently to convey passion? The design of his instrument, the accordion, really limits any kind of physicality to his playing. In the videos I’ve seen of him, he’s swaying back and forth rhythmically and smiling as he plays. He seems to be feeling the music. I can kinda dig it honestly.
I can’t give a specific example, but how about those artists that forge (or pay homage to) the true great artists’ works? They are most certainly technically proficient, but completely lacking in imagination!
Pastiche.
Gore Vidal had the quote “Art is energy shaped by intelligence.” Substitute “passion” for “energy,” and we’re onto something.
that passion can arise from ignorant egotism, which is excusable in young artists, tiresome in those at their peak, and then admirable in the old-timers who’ve survived divorces, rehab and reduction in the seating capacity of their venues. We had that long, contentious thread about “yacht rock,” and its supporters seemed to believe (I won’t say foolishly) that the technical mastery compensates for its lack of rawness. OTOH, the new bands coming from Australia at the same time that yacht rock was dominating the charts were charming in their enthusiasm and lack of awareness of all the baggage cluttering the rock scene.
I offer Mike Mangini, the guy who replaced Mike Portnoy in Dream Theater for 13 years. He is a technically proficient, good drummer. But he lacks the “soul” or “feeling” in his playing.
I picture Mangini meticulously writing out all of his parts on sheet music, and practicing it until he has achieved perfection, and never deviating. Whereas Portnoy can just sit down and play. He changes up his parts on a regular basis, and is no stranger to improv. I can’t see Mangini doing that.
A similar comparison might be Carlos Santana with Yngvie Malmsteen. Malmsteen might win a “play scales as fast as you can” contest between them, but in all other aspects Santana blows Malmsteen out of the water.
Chick Corea. I find his music intensely clever, in terms of structure, melody, orchestration, deep classical homage, etc, but I get no sense of feeling. It’s like all the decisions have already been made and there is now no freedom, no intuition. It’s impressively mathematical and precise, but for me it’s all surface.
(His occasional excursions into Spanish-influenced music are very different.)
My first thought were the paintings of Adolf Hitler.
