Where are iPods for other art?

---by Micheal

iPods and mp3 players are everywhere! After work, while I stood at the street corner awaiting my ride home, I couldn't help but notice how many of the hundreds of commuters hurrying towards North Station had ear-buds or headphones.

Now, I realize that music is an art form, and people appreciate art. But, what is it about music that all those people can't live without it for even ten minutes? A culture so 24/7 obsessed with an art form struck me as a little bit odd.

Imagine, if instead of music, the art form was sculpture. What if there were huge corporations out there marketing re-releases of Michaelangelo "greatest hits" collections to millions of "Mikey" fans? Talent scouts scouring trendy New York sculpture-bars looking for fresh young talent. Famous sculptors filling the couches on talk shows, or endorsing lines of clothing. A hit TV show -- "American Chiseler" -- giving hopeful artists their big break into sculpture stardom.

Automobiles would all have a sculpture-viewer mounted in the center of their dashboards. Doctors' offices would display bland remakes of popular statues for patients to enjoy while they wait. Urban punks would bring their big spiky metal sculptures on the bus with them, mostly to annoy the other riders.

Millions of youngsters would log onto Apple's iSculpt online store to download 3D images of the latest in modern statuary for only 99 cents each! They would fill up their iPods with all their favorite statues. That way, they can eye the latest inner-city impressionist abstract forms or perhaps groove out on oldies classics (such as, Mother and Child, or End of the Trail) just like their parents used to groove to back in the 80s.

Hundreds of work-weary commuters would strap on their iPods for the trip home. With a narrowly glazed focus, they would trudge towards the trains, oblivious to the throng around them. They'd stare at their iPods, studying the subtle nuances of polished italian marble or perhaps jammin' to the rough and edgy look of jack-hammered granite.

If we had a culture spending billions of dollars annually on personal copies of sculpture, and obsessed with viewing as much sculpture as possible -- while driving, at work, while jogging, or actually during nearly every waking moment -- wouldn't you think that culture was a little odd?

Why is it okay when it's music?