Sufjan Stevens 2: More 50 States Project

CONCEPT

My first point was as to the essentially of work like the 50 States Projects to the artistic community in general: it is an active manifestation of a commitment to the promise of transcendence through art. Most artists (in any medium) today have got a sincere but unfocused commitment to the change their work can bring about in the world. Ultimately, because this commitment is unfocused, it is unsteady and ineffective. After a period (probably years in most cases) of frustration, most artists zero in on their opportunities to obtain recognition and make money. Sufjan Stevens enterprise, however commercially successful it may ultimately be, disrupts this pattern because it's both long term, labor intensive, and ambitious to the point of audacity.

A SECOND POINT

The second point is an expression of what I mean by "holding down" as discussed in the second Gothic Funk manifesto. Holding down, that is, simple and strategic resistance, is a relatively simple act, but we're not trained to think of it in terms of artistic enterprise. We think of "holding down" in terms of war and religion, where it is easily and often applied. General Ulysses S. Grant was a master of holding down. Unfortunately, so is George W. Bush.

The 50 States project is a great test of the principle of holding down. If Stevens continues along this path, he's going to have a series of temptations to draw him away, mostly non-trivial. He may be attracted foremost by other professional or commercial opportunities. He may tire of the exercise, or find that his inspiration runs out. After four more states, he may want to settle down and start a family. After fourteen or twenty-four more states, he may want to retire.

Some of these situations may allow a compromise, but most will likely have a terminal effect of one sort. His choices may not dictate whether or not he continues to make albums based upon the fifty states, but they will very likely dictate whether he is able to make an album for all fifty.

The question, the, for Sufjan, is how long to hold down? How to best hold down? How to know what he is holding down for? And how to know when holding down ceases to be productive.

Here I find a second level of admiration for Sufjan Stevens: he has not only chosen an audacious project with redemptive possibilies, but he is, so-far, holding down intelligently. Holding down, for all its simplicity, should not be a mindless exercise (the Bush example).

It can be strategic...

There is no way around the fact that fifty states is a long haul. Stevens must then reconcile the 1) artistic need to create a cumulative body of work, that builds and evolves with each new installment, ie. always leaving something more and new to be explored, the 2) practical need to establish the series on a strong foundation in case the project is interrupted by necessity or choice, and the 3) also practical need to move into uncharted territory one step at a time. These are all long-term questions that inform the feasibility of albums far down the line... the twenties, thirties, and so on.

There's one indespensible variable that weights upon all three considerations, and that is the order of the states. Wisely, Stevens has decided to commit to only a state or two at a time, but his first four selections seem to be inductively wise by this criteria.

Consider the order:

- Michigan essentially suggests itself because of its role in Stevens' life. I don't know whether he first conceived the idea for the 50 States Project before, during, or after the recording, but he was able to test drive the theme without the worry of several considerations he'd have to apply to later albums. Most important among these are the related concerns of research and authenticity. He could record Michigan without going to the library or calling up a friend or relative. Though he may have done so, the lack of a need to makes the album a simpler proposition. He could record the album without anyone questioning his experience, because he was explicitly writing about himself. Michigan was a freebie, in the sense that he could succeed more easily than with any other state. Which makes it a logical starting point, because the learning curve is always steep at the beginning of a project like this.

- Illinois was a more elusive choice. From Stevens bio, I'm slightly surprised that he didn't choose New York. As his present home, the state would be packed with opportunities to exploit his memories and own interests... the song Chicago even goes so far as to admit that he once took a trip to Chicago imagining it to be the Big Apple. But to choose New York would not be holding down but committing to a short-term project. After recording New York, Stevens would have taken two of his most potent and personally invested options off the table, leaving forty-eight albums for states he's never lived in. A long term strategy must then focus on building the skills he initiated in Michigan while moving slightly out of his comfort zone. He's done this. As a state he's familiar with, the he's visited often, Stevens still enjoys advantages in recording Illinois. He still enjoys his familiarity with Midwestern culture. Yet, as a state he's never lived in, and a state of epic extremes at that, Illinois forces Stevens to grapple more closely with questions of research and authenticity. The album is thereby more politically and socially broad than Michigan, and there are predictably some failures. Gemma and I both consider John Wayne Gacy, Jr. to be one of these (which I will talk about in more detail in a later post). The fact, however, is that any project of this scope is going to contain lapses; assuming Stevens actually inteds to do all fifty states, this is a strategy that minimizes error and inauthenticity.

Recording New York would buy Stevens temporary breathing space with long-term fallout. Recording Illinois allows Stevens to finesse his vocabulary and process and save Now York for a much needed break midstream.

- The announcement of Oregon and Rhode Island are what finally convinced me that, regardless of outcome, Stevens is holding down in fine form so far. The choice suggests a extension of the motion from Michigan to Illinois. Realizing, necessarily, that most states will be sufficiently outside of his experience to preclude extensive use of personal anecdote, most albums will incorporate, as Illinois did a large proportion of political and religious observation and cultural mythology. In this sense, both Rhode Island and Oregon are relatively close to home. Politically, they are liberal states (Rhode Island, more uniformly, though urban Oregon is one of the most progressive parts of the country). I suspect that the urban culture or Providence and Portland, while not analogous to Chicago, have more in common among them than, say, Albuquerque, Anchorage, or Dallas. And finally, they are limited in size, Oregon with respect to population, and Rhode Island in both area and population. This gives Stevens an advantage he's lacked in the last two albums, which dealt with sizeable states with large populations.
Regionally, however, he cannot take a "Midwestern" mindset (self-conscious or not) for granted anymore. He is also able to apply lessons that he learned in New York City while not taking on New York itself: the coastal perspective. Ports and direct immigrant arrivals.

We'll see where this goes... I'm convinced, however, that if Sufjan Stevens commits his life to recording fifty albums, he's made excellent choices for the first four.

END OF POST.