comprehensive musicianship through performance
Borrowing Your Enemy’s Arrows Miriam Altman, CMP Committee Member
I like to think of myself as an open- minded person, but as a general rule, I just don’t get mod- ern art. Looking at those monochro- matic paintings or bizarre sculptures leaves me baffled,
unemotional and dismissive.
So several years ago I bought a book from the Museum of Modern Art in New York City that highlights pieces in its collection. Each page shows a photograph of the work along with an interpretive description about the artist’s intent. Purists might say this is counterproductive to art’s purpose, that is, instructing the viewer on what the
art “means,” thereby putting it on the same plane as bad poetry. But I thought it was fantastic.
One work, Borrowing Your Enemy’s Ar- rows by the Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang, has so captivated my imagination that I keep a small photocopy of the image taped to my desk. The wooden frame of a rowboat-sized vessel is hung from the ceil- ing. It is pierced all along its underbelly with 3,000 arrows, making it look like an upside-down hedgehog (although much more beautiful, in a paradoxically ugly sort of way).
In the piece, Guo-Qiang retells an old Chinese legend from the third century. The general, Zhuge Liang, faces an imminent attack from the enemy; meanwhile, his
warriors’ stock of weapons is depleted. He devises a plan: in the mists of early morn- ing, he sails a false army made of straw across the Yangtze River. The enemy falls for the attack, bombarding the decoy boats with thousands of arrows. Zhuge Liang exaltedly recovers them and leads his warriors to victory.
Now, I am not suggesting that obstacles to providing great music education to our students are the equivalent of a shortage of ammunition in the face of an oncoming assault. I am sure the stakeholders with different agendas come from a place of good intention. But the reality is that cir- cumstances can dampen our motivation. Or worse, break our spirit.
For me, Guo-Qiang’s beautifully ugly, pin-stuck flying boat is a visual reminder about transcending pain and about find- ing innovative and unexpected ways to overcome it. The fact is that I’ve needed to look at it a lot these days.
“Providing Excellence in Musical Opportunities” 2011-2012 Concert Season
Evelyn Steenbock Fall Concerts Saturday, November 12, 2011 1:30pm Sinfonietta and Concert Orchestra 4:00pm Percussion Ensemble and Philharmonia Orchestra
Sunday, November 13, 2011 2:00pm Harp Ensemble and Youth Orchestra
Winterfest Concerts Saturday, March 10, 2012 11:30am Harp Ensemble and Sinfonietta 1:30pm Percussion Ensemble and Concert Orchestra
4:00pm Philharmonia Orchestra 7:00pm Youth Orchestra
Eugenie Mayer Bolz Family
Spring Concerts Sunday, May 20, 2012 1:30pm Sinfonietta and Concert Orchestra 4:00pm Percussion Ensemble and Philharmonia Orchestra
7:00pm Harp Ensemble and Youth Orchestra 608.263.3320 •
wyso.music.wisc.edu 22
But remember, pain is not necessarily an inherent evil. Our culture seems to believe this to be true, that pain is a symptom that something is wrong and we must stop and fix it and do it right away. But in many places in the world, not to mention thousands of years before now, pain is the beginning of a pathway to strength. Pain is part of becoming a warrior, a young adult, a new mother.
I am a Comprehensive Musicianship Through Performance (CMP) teacher, and as much as I love the process and rewards of CMP, it inevitably comes with pain, too. CMP is about reflection, prioritization, artistic discovery, aesthetic connection and teaching with intention. The pain takes different forms on different days. It might be failure of a strategy or the hardship of a burden of excellence.
For me, the pain often takes the form of loneliness. Immerse yourself in the CMP
April 2012
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