Wednesday, April 11, 2007

A practical joke on American culture

H/T Cafe Glover. Thanks, sister!

Evidently, Joshua Bell, a world-renowned violinist, and the Washington Post decided to try an experiment. Bell would don the attire and demeanor of a street musician and play for 45 minutes in the L'Enfant subway station in Washington, DC. On a 1713 Stradivarius. He would see who would stop to listen, and see how much money landed in his case.

$32.17.

I can hardly think of a better comment on our culture.

12 comments:

Shawn said...

...you mean that he made almost $50/hour?

:)

Shawn said...

...what gets interesting is if he did the same thing wearing a tux.

...and then another guy did the same thing, but played only slightly mediocre music.

Bike Bubba said...

Well, about $42/hour, but well said--but don't forget that without the one woman who recognized him, he was getting about $17/hour.

And certainly I don't think that everyone should recognize Bell on sight. I sure wouldn't. I'd just have hoped that a few more people would have clued into the fact that they were hearing something out of the ordinary.

Shawn said...

nope; the 32.17 was NOT COUNTING the 20 the woman threw in.

"When it was over, Furukawa introduced herself to Bell, and tossed in a twenty. Not counting that -- it was tainted by recognition -- the final haul for his 43 minutes of playing was $32.17. Yes, some people gave pennies."

and...man, what an embarrassment to my math skills... :) 42 it is, not "almost 50", as 45 is 3/4 of 60, not 2/3 of 60 (i did 150% of 32.17 and came up with 48.25--"almost 50"...that would've worked if he played for 40 minutes, not 45).

Shawn said...

..obviously, I did that before I got to the end of the article, just based on your snippet.

Shawn said...

...i wasn't talking about people recognizing him with the tux comment (apparently he doesn't wear tuxes for shows). It's more the perception of quality that that would entail. I bet he'd "make" more, and have more people stopping to look.

Bike Bubba said...

Agreed that he might have gotten more with the tux, but my point is more basic; if Americans had any culture, they'd recognize the fact that they were listening to a very special performer using a very special instrument.

Bike Bubba said...

...and they shouldn't have to see black tux & tie to recognize that a performer is to be taken seriously.

Shawn said...

yeah, i'm not meaning that they should *have* to, but, as was mentioned in the article, context matters.

I shouldn't have to dress very professionally for work, but I know that if i don't, clients won't take me seriously (though, honestly, I'm not sure I buy that; I'm in a design profession, would it REALLY be that shocking or unsettling for me to be not wearing a starched shirt? oh well....)

brian compton said...

If an American Idol contestant did the same thing...how much do you think they would make?

Unknown said...

...that is SO a no-brainer. tens of dollars.

:)

Bike Bubba said...

I'd bet the AI contestant would have been recognized and most likely mobbed, despite generally not having anything resembling the talent had by Bell.