Work: Surviving the Arts

 
Exploring issues of sustainability in the arts.
 
~by Scott Pinkmountain
 
Excessive Celebration

It’s football season. Or was when I was writing this. I have a shameful, dirty secret, which is that I love football. It’s a newish infatuation that’s grown rapidly over the last few years, so maybe it will dwindle as infatuations often do. I’m kind of hoping it does because I’d like my Sundays and Monday nights back.

A big part of what I love about football is the potential at the beginning of each game, each play, that a new combination of actions is about to occur, and it could be anything. It could be a useless plodding scrum, or it could be a majestic, near-super-human record-breaking feat. The excitement at getting to witness some unique, spontaneous moment in real time is the same thing that drew me to improvised music in my teens. It’s all about the stakes, the risk, the unpredictability, the desire to accomplish the near impossible, and the potential that it could happen at any time. Continue reading