Even Guernica?
"This bull is a bull, and this horse is a horse." - Picasso

We all know that perspectives are skewed when things are out of place contextually. What was the test again?

I consider myself reasonably erudite.
I would not pay to see a single man play a violin. It's not my bag.
If he was playing in a Tube station (there are places set aside for buskers - they have to audition. Seriously) I'd probably chuck him some money. We've been through this before - I'm short on funds but it's how I was brought up.

Would I enjoy it? Highly unlikely. If it's a complicated, jarring piece, it will not be at its best in the echoing tunnels. I will not really be listening but will assume this is an aspiring musician down on his luck/ wanting public performance experience/ trying to break through. As other people have said, my mind would be on me, myself, my journey, whether I can overtake that woman in front of me, what time I'll get there and WHY IS HE WALKING SO SLOWLY?!

And I don't even wear headphones - whereas many many people do on public transport.

Interesting article Sky. Rubbish experiment.

That was Van Gogh.

Lack of time and lack of a place to sit. He's just not going to draw a crowd no matter how good he is.

They should try the experiment in front of the lincoln memorial in nice weather. I bet the results would be different.

You forgot playing shit most people don't want to listen to.

Forgot obligatory quote:

Perception is reality.

If he played "the devil went down to Georgia" or sumptin.

Well he did make $32 in 45 minutes, which is equivlant to $42.67 an hour. Assuming the income rate remains constant, a 40 hour work week, and working 50 weeks a year, he just made over $85,000 in one year! That's more then I will make for a long time, if ever, in one year.

I would say that is pretty damn successful for someone playing music on a New York subway.

But it's gonna take awhile to pay for that $3.5 million gitfiddle. :haha:

Well, not really. First, $20 of that was from one woman who recognized him from his fancy concert the night before. Second, rush hour at the metro doesn't last all day, he'd only get maybe a maximum of 3 hours a day at that high attendance rate. Third, folks aren't going to pay the same guy every day, his income would go down unless he was constantly moving between stations.

Oh, and thanks to inflation, $85,000 a year will be right around today's poverty level in just 50 years. So you'd better hope you make that much at some point in your lifetime. :)

Don't go shooting down my assumptions you jerk....they are all I have.

Then again, between rush hours people may not be in as much of a hurry and take time to listen, therefore generating huge sums of tax free cash.;)

Yeah $35 dollars is a huge offset.

Had they posted "Joshua Bell Playing" label near his head (and probably little description about how much his work is worth), the reaction would have been completely different in same metro station by the same people. It seems like a human mind tends to forget the perception of beauty in regular rush of the life. It needs to be slapped awake sometimes to show about the things.
And then there is a view that if some object of beauty is beautiful enough to appeal you, it will definitely stick to you even in amid of whole chaos.