No Music Day

Bill Drummond, conceptual artist and former rock star from the UK, has created something he calls No Music Day (November 21) and it’s been happening for three years now. Check out the website: nomusicday.com.

Reaction is mainly positive with remarks commenting on the creation of music as commercial product devoid of any real meaning, that the commercialization of music has reached a saturation point: there’s too much and it’s too easily available. That and the fact that we have to listen to a lot of music that we don’t choose to in the form of Muzak, the band next door rehearsing, music bleeding onto the sidewalk from storefronts, the CBC playing random tunes on talk radio, etc.

Personally, I feel that a lot of people (if not most) take music, and art in general, for granted. I don’t think that a day is long enough and I don’t think eliminating music goes far enough. It should be a week (a month!) long and all things art or connected with art should be eliminated.

No music anywhere, art galleries closed and tarped (don’t want to be looking in the windows), architectural beauty covered, theatres closed, no movies, video stores closed, fashion shows cancelled, radio and tv stations turned off (some of what occurs on tv and radio can pass as art so it all has to go; except for information channels, I suppose), no bands in clubs, etc. Make your own list. And then…

Keep track of world events during that week. I’d stay inside myself, since there’d probably be a spike in violent crime and alcohol intake. But I get the feeling that, after a few days, people (some at least) would start making their own art. Or crafts. Or something. If you’re not allowed to be an audience then you’ll have to be a creator. The void has to be filled and getting drunk and hurting yourself and others is only fun for so long.

Now we just need a name for it. “No Art Week” is boring. How about “Life Sucks Week”? Or “Thank God I Have Friends, I Wish We Had Something Meaningful To Do Week” followed by “Oh, Wait We Can Make Art Week”? But I’m sure everyone can make up their own name for it. Do it. It’ll be fun. It’s like being creative or something.