What is artistic beauty? The perspective of an engineer cum full time student of Indian Classical Music...
In differential calculus, we look at any quantifiable entity that has a direct or indirect relation to other quantifiable entities. Given an overall picture of the trend of this entity, we attempt to glean more information about it by performing the operations that are made available to us with a functional knowledge of Calculus. In differential calculus, given the profile of the basic entity under study as a function of another quantifiable entity, we attempt to obtain the rate of change of the entity with respect to the other.
In a linearly varying situation, it is fairly straightforward. But life is seldom linear. The basis of differential calculus is in splitting the whole picture into much smaller ones, and approximating each to be a linear scenario. If the interval taken is infinitely small, then the end points become adjacent and a linear approximation leans very very close to the actual situation.
What now? This understanding opens up a whole new galaxy of possibilities. With knowledge of certain elements, we can begin to uncover and understand a whole set of new elements, which could (and has..) lead to path breaking innovations in various fields. The quality of the output of any application of this principle of differential calculus depends on one thing. The size of the interval under consideration. The smaller the interval, the closer one gets to reality, and obtains a truer understanding of life as it is.
If tomorrow, I decide on a momentary whim to learn archery as a hobby, after a couple of weeks of training, I would probably be able to hit a target placed at reasonable distance. Friends having no exposure to archery would probably applaud my skills as an archer. But then, I would be hitting the center of the target if at all by just a lucky chance, and not by a manifestation of skill. But someone of the likes of Jayanta Talukdar (Indian Olympic Team- Archery) would fire arrow after arrow into the center of the target by intention. Even a small displacement in final position, or a slight offset in the delivery would not go unobserved. So too, would he draw appreciation from his friends and peers only at the highest levels of perfection.
Some of my friends, who are huge movie buffs, watch exclusively HD or Blu-Ray prints. They just cannot tolerate a low video quality. The resolution of their cognition instruments has increased by continuously being exposed to infinitesimal perfection in quality, that the flaws that may not be so obvious to the general observer get magnified.
Now, is this heightened sense of perception always good? On the face of it, it would appear not so. The other side of the ability to understand finer aspects of any activity is that its flaws, if any, get magnified. A well trained classical singer would not be able to enjoy a beautiful but not wholly perfect melody the same way I or a not so experienced musician would. So is it then a curse to develop a heightened sense of perception? Again, no. This sense enables the connoisseur to access previously unknown realms of joy and the level of immersion in the field tremendously increases. That's why the role of a "rasika" is sometimes treated almost as important as that of the performer in the Indian tradition. The rasika too has the same level of cognition abilities, and achieves the same spiritual state as that of the artist. He/ she just has not spent time in honing the instruments used to deliver the same material, the same way the artist has.
This heightened sense of perception, when restricted to strictly its own domain, could come with its disadvantages. But once it reaches a level so high that it begins to seep into the entire character of the person, one gets the ability to see beauty in the perfections as well as the imperfections of life. My gurus teach horribly out of tune (i'm sure that's how we sound to them :P) singers like me day after day and never get fed up or tired. They still show excited signs of appreciations at those moments when we manage a good delivery during our time with them. I know of highly skilled movie makers with an amazing repertoire of skills still sit back and enjoy a presentation of poor external qualities if the content has great inherent beauty. I've seen great artists enjoy music delivered with feeling even when not perfectly in tune. Their perception, once matured enough to capture the niceties of emotional appeal, can observe from afar the musical imperfections, but still appreciate the beauty in delivery and lyrical content. Artists of one genre after a certain stage begin to enjoy and appreciate art of any form.
In the long run, obtaining this heightened sense of perception, increasing the resolution of the cognition instruments pays off amazingly well. I've heard PhD students in my college share experiences of an increased sense of focus and ability to delve deeper into the intricacies of their field after having actively studied classical music. This makes perfect sense to me as one who is beginning to dive into the deep ocean of Dhrupad himself. This is probably why having an artistic hobby is highly recommended by experts :D
In differential calculus, we look at any quantifiable entity that has a direct or indirect relation to other quantifiable entities. Given an overall picture of the trend of this entity, we attempt to glean more information about it by performing the operations that are made available to us with a functional knowledge of Calculus. In differential calculus, given the profile of the basic entity under study as a function of another quantifiable entity, we attempt to obtain the rate of change of the entity with respect to the other.
In a linearly varying situation, it is fairly straightforward. But life is seldom linear. The basis of differential calculus is in splitting the whole picture into much smaller ones, and approximating each to be a linear scenario. If the interval taken is infinitely small, then the end points become adjacent and a linear approximation leans very very close to the actual situation.
What now? This understanding opens up a whole new galaxy of possibilities. With knowledge of certain elements, we can begin to uncover and understand a whole set of new elements, which could (and has..) lead to path breaking innovations in various fields. The quality of the output of any application of this principle of differential calculus depends on one thing. The size of the interval under consideration. The smaller the interval, the closer one gets to reality, and obtains a truer understanding of life as it is.
If tomorrow, I decide on a momentary whim to learn archery as a hobby, after a couple of weeks of training, I would probably be able to hit a target placed at reasonable distance. Friends having no exposure to archery would probably applaud my skills as an archer. But then, I would be hitting the center of the target if at all by just a lucky chance, and not by a manifestation of skill. But someone of the likes of Jayanta Talukdar (Indian Olympic Team- Archery) would fire arrow after arrow into the center of the target by intention. Even a small displacement in final position, or a slight offset in the delivery would not go unobserved. So too, would he draw appreciation from his friends and peers only at the highest levels of perfection.
Some of my friends, who are huge movie buffs, watch exclusively HD or Blu-Ray prints. They just cannot tolerate a low video quality. The resolution of their cognition instruments has increased by continuously being exposed to infinitesimal perfection in quality, that the flaws that may not be so obvious to the general observer get magnified.
Now, is this heightened sense of perception always good? On the face of it, it would appear not so. The other side of the ability to understand finer aspects of any activity is that its flaws, if any, get magnified. A well trained classical singer would not be able to enjoy a beautiful but not wholly perfect melody the same way I or a not so experienced musician would. So is it then a curse to develop a heightened sense of perception? Again, no. This sense enables the connoisseur to access previously unknown realms of joy and the level of immersion in the field tremendously increases. That's why the role of a "rasika" is sometimes treated almost as important as that of the performer in the Indian tradition. The rasika too has the same level of cognition abilities, and achieves the same spiritual state as that of the artist. He/ she just has not spent time in honing the instruments used to deliver the same material, the same way the artist has.
This heightened sense of perception, when restricted to strictly its own domain, could come with its disadvantages. But once it reaches a level so high that it begins to seep into the entire character of the person, one gets the ability to see beauty in the perfections as well as the imperfections of life. My gurus teach horribly out of tune (i'm sure that's how we sound to them :P) singers like me day after day and never get fed up or tired. They still show excited signs of appreciations at those moments when we manage a good delivery during our time with them. I know of highly skilled movie makers with an amazing repertoire of skills still sit back and enjoy a presentation of poor external qualities if the content has great inherent beauty. I've seen great artists enjoy music delivered with feeling even when not perfectly in tune. Their perception, once matured enough to capture the niceties of emotional appeal, can observe from afar the musical imperfections, but still appreciate the beauty in delivery and lyrical content. Artists of one genre after a certain stage begin to enjoy and appreciate art of any form.
In the long run, obtaining this heightened sense of perception, increasing the resolution of the cognition instruments pays off amazingly well. I've heard PhD students in my college share experiences of an increased sense of focus and ability to delve deeper into the intricacies of their field after having actively studied classical music. This makes perfect sense to me as one who is beginning to dive into the deep ocean of Dhrupad himself. This is probably why having an artistic hobby is highly recommended by experts :D
I am happy to see your interest in writing growing and your thinking horizon has expnaded. What you have shared is quite thought provoking and dwelves on why some good performers become arrogant due to lack of this understanding.... Keep relating what you have learnt last 4 years in your journey :-) All the Best....
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