Are you a looky-loo?
David Hickey , the famous american art and cultural critic, once wrote a brilliant essay in his book Air Guitar: Essays on Art & Democracy . It's called " Romancing the Looky-Loos ". The essay was published in 1997 and basically talks about various different kind of audiences in music. A recent post by Seth Godin reminded me of the essay and "looky-loos". It was a term invented by Dave's father, a musician, for a particular audience who had come to the performance only to consume or as Dave Hickey says in his essay, "nonparticipants....They paid their dollar at the door, but they contributed nothing to the occasion - afforded no confirmation or denial that you could work with or around or against." Being a participant is different. It is as if your presence matters - you matter. Being a participant means, you give feedback. Being a looky-loo means you consume/absorb and go away. Groundswell has taught us that a wholesome c...