Sep.

2 Shu Li
I really like the way that Friedman presented in Planetarity. She used the way to ask
questions first and then answer the question to give readers her explanations and
express her ideas. Both Friedman and Albright’s essay use crosswise and lengthways
to narrate their points, and involved with all kinds of fields. I always think‘ Arts are
connected’. Same theory can be illustrated by different ways in different fields. Like
Albright focused on comparing different music styles and examples of other field to
demonstrate his point of view of modernism while Friedman is focusing on paintings
and poems to show readers how she comprehends modernism.
In Friedman’s essay I really like and agree with the idea that modernism is a
comprehensive product. The origin maybe from one place, but as long as it grows up,
it must be a combination of all kinds of elements. From a crosswise perspective,
Modernism derives from ancient civilizations. Albright mentioned King Solomon has
a warning: There is no new thing under the sun. However, there are new shifts of
emphasis. People’s perception of things changes over time. As the development of
human civilization and society, conquest and coloniality and other kinds of human
activities happened. New things generate from old things. In my perspective, we are
adding new thoughts, ideas, and elements we think more suitable for the time period
we are existing, and abandon what we think is ‘old-fashion’, kinds of like
‘Introduction to evolution’ of Darwin.
From lengthways, as Friedman mentioned in Black Bird 6, Modernism is multiple,
polycentric and recurrent. Commerce, politics, culture, different areas, countries and
languages all are elements influencing Modernism. Commercial always plays an
important role to promote communication between different cultures. I agree with
what Friedman said ‘modernisms develop not in isolation’, I also think this ‘blend’of
different cultures and civilizations lead to what Albright mentioned ‘highbrow
modernism’. Although Albright and Friedman are talking about different perspectives
of modernism, the viewpoint ‘modernism is a product of diversification’ is in
agreement.
What I really like Black Bird 12 of Friedman’s essay about the four main critical
practices. These 4 practices are helpful to be used anywhere. If I’d like to use these 4
practices into a music piece. Re-vision, I could ‘taste’this music piece in different
perspectives, try different ways to interpret the emotions that I want to express.
Recovery, digging background and relationships between roles, between music and
lyrics, between singing and accompaniment. Circulation, helps learning from other’s
interpretations. Collage, combine things I like and my own thoughts to ‘create’ my
own piece.

Questions:
I don’t understand what Albright talked about ‘metanarrative’.
The ‘foundamental lines’Albright mentioned on page 21.
What is utopic and dystopic Friedman mentioned in Planetarity.