Abstract

In Our Orbit

The article focuses on the books "The Madonna of the future: Essays in a Pluralistic Art World," by Arthur C. Danto and "Myself When I Am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus," by Gene Santoro. One of Danto's signal qualities is his openness to new types of art, a trait much on display here that It is the mark of their period that everything can be regarded as a work of art, he remarks in "Art and Meaning" which also leads him to deplore the waspishness of critics. "The Nation," music critic Gene Santoro outlines the problem at the beginning of his new life of Charles Mingus that Mingus music is overwhelming in its torrent of musical styles and psychological switchbacks and emotional punch, its tumble of raucous gospel swing, luminous melodies, European classical threads, bebop tributes, Mexican and Colombian and Indian music and sounds from anywhere and everywhere.