Kintsugi (“golden joinery”) is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise. (Wiki)
Watching last weekend’s open mic reminded me of the wonderful uniqueness of live performance. Almost all live performances will contain ‘glitches’, or ‘mistakes’ that we know we are able to avoid, and yet can ruin the way we view our own performances. Some of us re-record and share the song ‘as we are able’ to play it.
When we fluff our lines/mess up that chord in a live performance, the vase breaks.
When we grin and carry on, that’s the gold that transforms a fault into a piece of art.
You have learned well Grasshopper. I love the principle of Kintsugi. I try not to highlight the broken articles on my Zen altar but courtesy of German Shepherds having large tails there are many. Bodhidharma is the most brutalised. Superglue and house dust is in order here.
Perhaps I should taken the Kintsugi approach with my LP, especially given its name ?
Gassho
Not sure I’d consider my performances art but mastering the art of carrying on as if the fluff never happened is golden.
And in similar vein, not having that voice in your head shouting ‘don’t fluff up’ as you approach the end of a performance that has been relatively fluffless
I am definitely still a keen student who struggles with keeping up the pace in this particular field of study, however we live and learn! I hope one day to fully embrace that particular Zen and just keep on keeping on rather than reminiscing on what could have been done better!
but mastering the art of carrying on as if the fluff never happened is golden.