Provocation Without Impact
At a recent dance performance I worked on, my colleagues and I were informed that it was a “controversial” piece because it incorporated the music of a controversial artist. Emanuel Gat’s Freedom Sonata blended its choreography with Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and even more controversial Beethoven’s Sonata No. 32. A Beethoven-Kanye crossover, which just so happens to be my usual morning playlist. The institution even brought in security—four guards—to fend off any rogue Kanye haters (or hardcore Beethoven purists). We were immediately reassured that, despite the precautions, there was zero chance of any real incident. Not that any of us believed for a second that the audience truly cared enough to make a scene.
So, how is it controversial then?
Kanye is undeniably one of the most famous and acclaimed artists of our time. His antisemitic and sexist remarks are widely condemned, but they are not new—he has always thrived on provocation. Parading with his naked and silent wife (who I really hope gets her well-earned share in the divorce)—does he even provoke anyone anymore? Can anyone truly be shocked in an age where our senses are already burned out? If he starts selling swastikas on his T-shirts, will there be a true outcry, or will he actually be rewarded with more attention?
From what I saw last night: no one is really debating whether Kanye is controversial. The word itself has become a performance. His music remains mainstream—can mainstream even be controversial?
New context can reinterpret his music, and I have seen powerful examples of this, like Arthur Jafa’s Love Is the Message, the Message Is Death (2016), which uses Kanye’s Ultralight Beam to deeply enhance its emotional and political message. There, the music is part of something larger, something urgent.
But Freedom Sonata does not strike me as a piece that recontextualizes Kanye’s music. It leans on the perceived controversy, as if the very act of playing his songs is enough to create meaning. For example, fading the lights away to the song Fade feels like an overly literal interpretation. I do not attend enough dance performances to judge whether the play was in fact good or bad—I am only addressing the falsity of the discourse surrounding it.
This cycle of manufacturing controversy for attention is exactly why we have become desensitized. I don’t know what real controversy looks like anymore. But when it comes, there won’t be security guards at the door, and people won’t be clapping. And it sure won’t be to the music of Kanye West.
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