Thursday, January 8, 2009

Catching the Subway, but missing the Beauty

Entertain this thought~ If the most beautiful violin music is played for you, by the world's best artist, on a $32 million Stradivarius, would you walk by without stopping?

Over a thousand people did just that, during 45 minutes of the D.C. morning rush in January, 2007, when Joshua Bell posed as a busker. Less than 1/2 of one percent took notice. About a dozen dropped money in the till. A mere handful stopped long enough to listen some. And only one woman recognized him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0KdAXLSO0Y&feature=related

The Washington Post experiment posed the question, if beauty were on display in a banal envornment, at an inopportune time, would it transcend the mundane?

Worth thinking about. By the way, the man who sells out concerts at $100 per seat-- took in a total of $32.

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