In My Language (& Mine Too)
I asked for more arguments like this one — which is to say, compelling, self-produced video theses — and I think that A.M. Baggs’s “In My Lanuguage” most definitely qualifies.
The pull quote:
Far from being purposeless, the way that I move is an ongoing response to what is going around me. Ironically, the way that I move when responding to everything around me is described as “being in a world of my own.” Whereas if I interact with a much more limited set of responses and only react to a much more limited part of my surroundings, people claim that I am “opening up to true interaction with the world.”
Watch it the whole way through.
Deeply moving, deeply persuasive — for many anyhow — and yet, some people still miss the point. I find that dismaying. But then, I’m encouraged that so many others respond with empathy,wonder,&respect.
…
&the guy who says the first half is Sigur Ros, the second Radiohead, is — aside from callously clever — rather unfair to the spirit of Radiohead. Tho I do appreciate the distinction. Sigur Ros always seem pretty sensual,capacious&capricious to me. In a good way. And moreover, not unaware of what they’re doing. And then there’s that whole Hopelandic thing, of course. (Not to cast myself in the whole — hey, that’s not a language in the Chomskian sense — crowd. [wtf?] It’s pretty clear those guys’re missing something.)
But while we’re on the subject, have u seen this one?
…
So, I suppose if this has become another one of those “YouTube posts” (tho I think the term has already passed into redundancy), I may as well share another lovely (video) mix of form and content, of message and music (and by music, I mean poetry [and music]). This one from India, a photopoetic “Sufi fusion” Punjabi treatise on the mystery of, well, g0d or something, but I’m not much concerned with whatever it is he might actually mean. It’s more the way he means it.
Ignore the Deep Forest-y / Enigma-tic aspects and attend to its filmic qualities, its effective edits. Boring breakbeat and mild treacle aside, it’s a strong statement, expressly expressively expressed, knamean. (&yet, still wildly interpreted! So it goes. C’est la vie, c’est parole, c’est musique.) [merci, jbj]
musicologist, internet annotator, imagined community organizer.
5 Comments Add your own
1. bandbajao | February 8th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
Well, the “Sufi Fusion” thingy is actually a poem by Bulleh Shah (1680-1758). “What is most striking about Bulleh Shah’s poetry and philosophy is his audacious, almost egotistical critique of the religious orthodoxy of his day, particularly the Islamic religious orthodoxy. His poetry is filled with direct attacks on those who claim control over religion, to the point of comparing mullahs to barking dogs and crowing roosters.” – from the Wikipedia entry here. Translation can be found here here.
2. wayneandwax | February 8th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
Thanks for the links. Yah, I noticed that the discussion on YouTube had a few flashpoints around the figure of Bulleh Shah and the import of the poem. And I can see how the poem could be interpreted, especially from an orthodox standpoint, as not only contentious but heretical. But it seems like a pretty standard Sufi formulation of the mystery of g0d, life, etc., to me — and hardly egotistical.
Also, by “Sufi fusion” I was referring more to the musical style than the poetry/philosophy. A colleague who works on music in India fwd’d me the video and said this about it:
3. bandbajao | February 8th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Your friend from India is dead on target. Ehsaan and Loy are really good at their stuff. Karl is more of a freelancer, though – you can hear him on almost every album by A.R.Rahman.
4. ripley | February 10th, 2007 at 8:40 pm
oh yes been seeing ms. baggs for a while. incredible.
and no point in reading youTube comments. Either empty or truly the lowest of the low. really destroy my faith in humanity.
5. wayneandwax | February 12th, 2007 at 7:44 am
yeah, it’s pretty dismaying, rip. too bad, too, as i otherwise find it a vibrant space (and b/c my ethnographic eye tends to draw me there). still, some pretty telling discourse sometimes. i find when showing certain vids in class that the comments almost always pronounce the predictable (if the scatalogical, too). maybe better to let some people speak through uploads alone!?
and, yes, fine stuff by ms.baggs. between her vlog, her blog, and her favorites (of beautiful, loved autistic children, mostly), some v powerful messages.
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