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@merrygraves / merrygraves.tumblr.com

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CAPITAL noun

1.the city or town that is the official seat of government in a country, state, etc.

2. a city regarded as being of special eminence in some field of activity: New York is the dance capital of the world.

3. capital letter

4. the wealth, whether in money or property, owned or employed in business by an individual, firm,corporation, etc.

5. an accumulated stock of such wealth.

6. any form of wealth employed or capable of being employed in the production of more wealth.

7. Accounting.

  1. assets remaining after deduction of liabilities; the net worth of a business.
  2. the ownership interest in a business.

8. any source of profit, advantage, power, etc.; an asset or assets (usually used in combination): He has the political capital to push through the legislation. His indefatigable drive is his greatest capital.

9. capitalists as a group or class (distinguished from labor): High taxation has reduced the spending power of capital.

adjective

10. pertaining to financial capital: capital stock.

11. principal; highly important: This guide offers suggestions of capital interest to travelers.

12. chief, especially as being the official seat of government of a country, state, etc.: the capital city of France.

13. excellent or first-rate: a capital hotel; a capital fellow.

14. capital letter (again)

15. involving the loss of life: capital punishment.

16. punishable by death: a capital crime; a capital offender.

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POST ART, INTERNET

HELLO YOU,

if you are following me on twitter, you’ve already seen this, please ignore this

it’s time for the big crazy Art Indiscrimination project that i haven’t told you about yet.  are you ready? GO:

STEP ONE: choose the most Fondly Obnoxious art that you know of, in any medium.  lmk if you can't decide, otherwise keep it secret

STEP TWO: choose three people - one you are fond of, one you think is a little obnoxious, and one that is fondly obnoxious.  don't tell them

example: they don't have to be fond or obnoxious, i just like using words to make my choices easier

STEP THREE: try to get each person's attention using outdated methods (mail, e-mail, mixtapes, post-it notes, something ridiculous)

example: "hello [name], i would like to give you some art. Fondly, m. graves" shoved into a bottle with cork, thrown into ocean

if you did this correctly, they will not be able to resist replying bc of how weird your attention-grabber was. await this reply

STEP FOUR:  when they reply, give them the art you chose all the way back in step one.  they must keep it.  refuse to ever take it back!!!

example: you give each person a printout of a zdislaw beksinski piece.  they try to return it to you but you have changed address

STEP FINAL: you can submit your assignment to this tumblr by April 1st 2017, late submissions will lose one letter grade.  you can reblog or submit.  (optional step)

example: evidence of completion includes photo documentaries, critical essays on the subject, video montages, play scripts, et al.

if you’re actually ridiculous enough to do this, please protect the identities of the people you involve in this, do not post their names

alright, lmk if you have any questions, see you on the first of April, yeah, talk to you later, i lo- i mean, uh, whoops, bye... how do i hang up

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Carlo Gesualdo and Marketing

(alt title: cross-deconstruction of modern depictions of carlo gesualdo, arranged on the basis of providing insight on his marketing strategies)

“While his estate became a center of music-making, it was for Gesualdo alone. With his considerable financial resources, he was able to hire singers and instrumentalists for his own pleasure[.]“

...“he hardly ever left his castle, and music seems to have been his only passion.”  (other than murder, ha ha ha)

Late in life he suffered from depression.” (i think you have that backwards)

...“and he may have given expression to it in his music“ (that too)

“While he was famous for his murders, he also remains famous for his music”

...“It was only in the twentieth century that he was rediscovered.” 

“he uses particularly sharp dissonance and shocking chromatic juxtapositions, especially in the parts highlighting text passages having to do with Christ's suffering, or the guilt of St. Peter in having betrayed Jesus.“

...”To a degree, Gesualdo the composer was typical of his time and place. In his youth, the dominant mode of the day, in music and in other arts, was Mannerism: a rebellion against Renaissance humanism that emphasized flamboyant stylization, formal shock tactics, technical virtuosity, and intimations of the dark and the irrational.” 

  • he means “ars subtilior” which “are almost exclusively secular songs, and have as their subject matter love, war, chivalry, and stories from classical antiquity.” but, whatever, a tag is a tag i guess

“Still, the biography of Gesualdo contains enough evidence of bizarre behavior—not only the slayings themselves but later intimations of dealings with witches and of sadomasochistic relations with young men—that the prevailing picture of him as an uncommonly sinister character seems apt.”

...“If Gesualdo had not committed such shocking acts, we might not pay such close attention to his music. But if he had not written such shocking music we would not care so much about his deeds. Many bloodier crimes have been forgotten; it’s the nexus of high(privileged) art(culture) and foul(privileged) play(culture) that catches our fancy.

“What [Gesualdo’s second wife] thought at the time about marrying a manic-depressive, music-obsessed murderer is not known, though she married Gesualdo and moved with him back to his estate in 1597.“

...“The relationship between Gesualdo and his new wife was not good. She accused him of abuse[.]”

“We always want to be surprised by Gesualdo, because of this myth of him as an experimentalist[.]” (...in murder?)

“Kill that scoundrel, along with this harlot! Shall a Gesualdo be made a cuckold?” - Carlo Gesualdo

that’s a real thing that Gesualdo definitely said, not an imaginary thing at all, typed the author wildly into his computer

i am saying: maybe carlo gesualdo was a normal person with an excellent marketing strategy.  the strategy was being a nobleman that can’t be prosecuted for murdering people, just like modern times

i sourced all of this from the internet.  please search for “CARLO GESUALDO” (all-caps included) to receive the citations listing for this blog piece

that’s all for today.  thank you for reading, and have a nice day.

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