jack white, from mtv
Jack White, singer/guitarist of the Raconteurs and White Stripes, recently spoke with Cate Blanchett for Interview Magazine. Both are incredibly talented artists, and their conversation was fascinating and thought-provoking.
A few quotes:
(On children)
JW: …We’ve got a girl and a boy now. Scarlett White and Henry Lee White. They’re holding each other’s hands right now. Each moment doesn’t last long enough, does it?
CB: I know. That’s why we just have to have more of them. The world is so massively overpopulated, but if you’re halfway decent-looking and you make nice ones, then I think it’s probably your responsibility to make more.
(On passion and the theater)
CB: I do think, though, that as a species we have been bleaching out our passion. The situation of existing in extremes-and I don’t mean violent, dangerous extremes, but rather extremes of thought or living with contradictions-is kind of considered increasingly abhorrent and antisocial. I think that’s why good theaters are really important. They allow you to exist in a space with other people and deal with these things, and not in a passive way.
(On live performances)
JW: The thing I love about live performance the most, though, is that the doors are closed, the lights are turned down, and the audience has to be reverential to what’s happening onstage. It’s not like being at home where you can change channels, fast-forward, turn it off, put the book down, or walk away. It’s this phenomenon where we all, as a community, go to church and sit and experience this thing together.
(On the Internet)
CB: I think the downside of the Internet is that speaking-or writing-has become the point in and of itself. I’m of the opinion that it’s okay to be silent, to not speak if you don’t have anything to say. Someone was talking to me the other day about her teenage daughter who is very creative. Now, to become a painter or a sculptor or a graphic designer is quite an isolated way to spend your life. But this girl’s passion, she said to her mother the other day, was being with her friends, and she said there’s this sense that she doesn’t exist without the other people there. It seems like people increasingly just can’t be by themselves because they’re so used to having an epicenter on the Internet that actually exists for other people. Until someone clicks onto your Facebook page, it doesn’t mean anything.
(On solo performances)
JW: Well, when you go out to give a performance, you’re putting yourself out there into the world to share with other people. If you just do it in your room by yourself, no matter how beautiful it is, is it dead?
CB: It’s always better in your room. It’s always perfect in your room. And then other people get in the way.
JW: It’s dead, though, in your room. It doesn’t live.
CB: It doesn’t mean anything beyond you having a little narcissistic moment.
Cate Blanchett, from Interview Magazine
And by the way, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is a fascinating must-see. The plot was layered and creative, inspiring emotion and thought. I usually can’t stand long movies, but this one held my attention. It’s highly recommended.
