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THE IDEA
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TIME IS PRECIOUS...
Especially the time in each day when you get to choose how you spend it. Sometimes we waste that time. Sometimes we watch too much TV. Maybe, instead of letting another half an hour slip by half-unconsciously watching one more show tonight, we can do something more interesting. |
MUSIC IS POWERFUL...
Music is an art form that creates an easily accessible experience. You get to have it with you wherever you are. Music can tell a story, release emotions, preserve memories, spark ideas, and inspire more art. Unfortunately, often music is just nice sounding noise in the background while we focus on other things. Maybe tonight, you can spend a half an hour fully immersed in music, in art, with your brain and heart fully engaged and alive. |
YOU WERE BORN TO BE CREATIVE.
You can write. You can draw. You can imagine. It doesn't have to be "good". Part of what makes you human is the fact that you can create. Maybe tonight, you can be inspired by music to create something that didn't exist before. Maybe it will be amazing. Maybe it will just be fun. |
What Is a Music Episode, and What Do I Do With It?
A "Music Episode" is like a television episode. It's also not like a television episode. With TV, the story is told to you, shown to you, with added laughter, oohs, and ahhhs to make sure that you know what emotion you should be feeling. A "Music Episode" is different. There is a story, but you get to create it.
A "Music Episode" comes with a creation space notebook where you can write, draw, doodle, paint, collage, or read while you listen to the music. The notebook is not a distraction, but actually a way to focus on the music in a deeper way. A "Music Episode" is meant to be experienced many times. Unlike a TV episode that has one story-line with one ending, a "Music Episode" can tell a different story each time you listen to it. Or perhaps, the story grows and becomes more vibrantly colorful each time hear it. That is why there are so many blank pages in the notebook.
Just like you don't take down a painting in your house after one night because you've already seen it, a "Music Episode" should be enjoyed over and over again to hear things you didn't notice the first time, and to see how your experience of the music changes as you become more acquainted with it.
You might say, "Who has time to engage in and actually create art? I'm too busy." A "Music Episode" is only 23 minutes long. That's about how long a "half-hour" TV program lasts when you take away the commercials. Instead of watching one more TV show, I encourage you to interact with a "Music Episode" instead. It will work whether you are alone or with others. It might actually lead to conversation that lasts beyond the half-hour mark. You might even forget about watching TV for the rest of the night. Don't worry, you can probably still catch that show online later.
Music is art, and art exists to shake you awake to make sure you are fully living your life. That is where the idea of "Music Episodes" came from. Get ready to engage with music in a new way. Get ready to deeply experience art on what would normally be just a regular day.
The first music episode, "The Pilot Episode", was created for the 2014 CSArt Colorado shareholders. To find out about the CSArt program or to become a shareholder visit CSArtcolorado.org .
"Episode One" will follow and will be available to all. Check back here often for updates, sound samples, visuals, and more.
Thanks For Listening,
Jonathan Mason
Jonathan Mason is a multi-instrumentalist musician and visual artist living in Madison, Wisconsin. By layering guitar, traditional and non-traditional percussion, vocals, piano/keyboard, harmonica, children’s instruments, bass guitar, electronic elements, and anything else capable of making sound; Jonathan strives to create emotionally powerful soundscapes. He has played drums in hard rock and punk bands, written music for film and commercials, and performed and released music as the solo project “One Man Stands Together”. Jonathan Mason’s music was featured during the Denver International Airport’s exhibit “Colorado: See the New West Like a Local”. His latest work involves collaboration with storytelling elements and the written word to create long form “episodes of music”.
