Would YOU have noticed? I wouldn't....

[platypus_fiesta]

This article blew my mind.  The Washington Post put Joshua Bell, arguably America's greatest classical violinist, in the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station and had him play for an hour to see if passersby would stop to appreciate random beauty during their morning commute.  The WP expected a mob scene, but most people didn't even notice that there _was_

Comments

[lightcastle]

I would have noticed, but only may or may not have bothered to put money in.

[platypus_fiesta]

Hey there, stranger. ;) Yeah, that's the thing--the decision to contribute money to street performers is something I'm still struggling with. And that lady in the article who recognized him gave him $20--that's like giving Michael Jordan a buck for valet parking your car. I see the sentiment, but I don't know if it translates--$20 isn't even worth his time to bend down and pick up, but it's probably a big deal to her. So perplexing.

[lightcastle]

Hey there, stranger. ;)

Hey there, stranger. ;) (Speaking of which, give me a shout or throw me an email some day, I'd love to actually *catch up* as opposed to scattershot LJ (which I don't read consistently anyway.)

Yeah, that's the thing--the decision to contribute money to street performers is something I'm still struggling with.

There were a fair number of good ones in Montreal. Usually, if they were good and I had anything on me, I'd throw something in.

And that lady in the article who recognized him gave him $20--that's like giving Michael Jordan a buck for valet parking your car. I see the sentiment, but I don't know if it translates--$20 isn't even worth his time to bend down and pick up, but it's probably a big deal to her. So perplexing.It is. But at the same time, for most people, they aren't even going to stop, whether or not they give money. So a buck thrown down for 30 seconds of music? I don't know

[platypus_fiesta]

Yeah, that last is a good point. Hmmmm.... Will _try_ to do a bit better about saying hi--things have been so crazy of late!

[vvalkyri]

been discussing this in aim. I tend to stop and I tend to give money but I don't tend to be at L'Enfant at 7:51am, though I often would walk up there in a mid afternoon.

I wonder how different the results might have been at evening rush, where staying a few minutes changes one's home arrival but not whether someone's mad at you at work, or on a mid day or on a weekend...

[shadeofnight]

Someone else IMed this link to me, and I have to say it does not suprise me. They set him up fail, as rush hour is when no one has time to do anything. People are running late, and their livelyhood is on the line. Enjoying music or a movie or a book is done when people have free time, and rush hour is not free time.

If they wanted to do a real test, they would have set him up along a large square or circle on the edge of maybe a park where people would go for lunch, and then see how many people gave money or sat around to enjoy the show.

This is all just common sence to anyone that works for a living in and around the city. It is also very normal sociology :).

[lightcastle]

Good points on how he was set up to fail. As you say, make it somewhere people are not rushing for their livelyhood and the dynamics change dramatically.

[platypus_fiesta]

I'm reading the live chat online about this right now at the WP.com and someone made that same point. Here's what a reader replied, which I thought was very interesting:

violinist.com: A precedent: on the blog @ volinist.com, someone noted:

in Belgium they did a similar experiment. Our own Yossif Ivanov, who had just won 2nd prize in Queen Elisabeth Comp. was asked to play alongside the beach, in summer. People were NOT rushing to work, and were NO Americans. Result: He got just enough money to buy an icecream!

Gene Weingarten: Hahahaha. Excellent.

[lightcastle]

But is the experiment REALLY about how much money they make?

The insultingly elitist tone of the article seems more concerned that no one even stopped to appreciate it. Did Ivanov get a crowd, but no cash? Or did no one stop?