"The pain is the beauty (of the world emergent)." - Brian Massumi, from Parables for the Virtual
the sensory affect of beauty, be it in sonic, physical or thought form, is longing, and longing for something outside the self is a form of pain. there is an element of pain in everything profoundly beautiful, in everything that can tangibly impact you in some way. in the experience of love, in passion, in experience, in memory, in music, in visual art, there is a stirring of a subtle pain for what we will never be able to hold for more than a moment, for what we will never be able to be or join.that is why i claim to live for 'sonic bliss', for resigning myself and attempting to momentarily loosen the strict boundaries of my mind and conscious self in a flood of aural or aesthetic sensation. the ability to sense a dissolution of the self into sound...or that moment of transcendence that can counteract that pain and longing to merge with the environment, if only for a moment...is truly human.
music can make me cry at even the ordinary, at nothing but the sensory experience of life and memory functioning in union. these tears are not as simple as pure emotions like sadness or joy, but instead are an involuntary reaction to inexpressible and unattainable beauty. the synth-crafted aural textures of electronic music, in combination with the musical darkness of magnified, amplified bass frequencies have infinite expressive capabilities where i find this sentiment expressed best. you cannot live in the moment without abandon, and how else can we experience this emergence from the self but in total hedonism, away from the rigors and regimens of our daily lives? this is the core of my allegiance to the massive rock concert, the precedent set by the grateful dead, and the rave scene...
hence the quote. the pain is is the beauty of the world, emerging to your senses and personal understanding.
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