Vysotsky, pop music, JB - matt geist

So recently I have been reading a lot of books pertaining to the Russian Bard Vladimir Vysotsky. A bard, is a Russian term for a guitar poet who often sings satirical songs. He was a huge cultural phenomenon and pop icon of his day (1970s) but is relatively unknown figure in the West. His songs were about how crummy life was in the Soviet Union, which most Westerners aren’t too keen on hearing about. I began thinking about writing a blog about him for this class when I started to question the role of an artist, and the role of a pop star. We have discussed the role of the artist on a few occasions in our class, as being the ones who have an eye for art, or beauty, but we have not discussed pop artists. It seems strange to bring pop icons into an art class, but many people do consider pop music art, and in some cases it really can be (like in the case of Vysotsky).

What role though does pop art, or pop music have in a society? Because it is pop, it is popular, and thus appreciated by a vast audience. Was not all art at one time pop art. When lets say the mona lisa was released everyone flocked to see it and talk about it. I think the “pop art” of our day is moreso a cultural phenomenon. To heed Harrison, art is the secularization of ritual. I think pop art is the worst of this. I feel almost sad hearing college girls oogle over a 15 year old Justin Bieber. I don’t quite understand it. Has our culture lost all sense of culture!? Art can always be seen as a reflection of a society’s cultural values, so what are ours when we look at our popular art? It is no surprise American’s always claim everyone else in the world hates us, its so easy to when what people honestly care about is JB.

Perhaps this turned into to too much of an American pop music rant. In relating Vysotsky to these points though, this man was a hero; an honest admirable Russian who sang the blues, essentially, about soviet life. Where is this now?! How benal has American culture become that a majority of the population has JB dreams? It surely seems that this art is nothing more than secularized manufactured crap, sold cheaply to those who think its worth something. I’m praying for a modern Mozart, and I don’t think JBs gonna be it.