“The most important thing in art is the frame. For painting: literally; for other arts: figuratively – because, without this humble appliance, you can’t know where The Art stops and The Real World begins. You have to put a “box” around it because otherwise, what is that shit on the wall?” – Frank Zappa
Hmmm… not sure I agree entirely with Frank. I think the opposite is often true especially for performing arts. The question of whether the shit on the wall is art or just a bird who shat on the wing, or whether someone who moves in a slightly out of the ordinary way in the metro is a dancer performing or not is super interesting. Do you need to know? Isn’t it more intriguing if you are not sure? Or is it too scary for most people? We label and ‘box’ things in order to feel safe. What’s The Real World anyway? Isn’t it nature’s masterpiece?
On the other hand, reframing something can change the content entirely, and blow you out of the water, so the right frame can make all the difference. The above quote is framed by quotation marks and is in italics to differentiate it from the rest of the text, making it clear that Frank said this. Is it important that we know whether this is a quote or not, or whether he said it or someone else? Argh…I’m torn…and yes, it’s me in the photo – Am I performing?
