Greatest Work of Art for Each Year, any medium (becoming less complete)

For that brief moment, Reggie Miller transended skill and produced a work of art. :-)

Interesting list. But Mishima's suicide - artful or simply ritualistic?

Under the Volcano? If I never have to read that book again...

How 'bout Bill Viola's The Passions?

GREAT idea for a list. Now if we could just ask for a short explanation on each of your choices. Not that you have to, but I think it could lead to one of the more constructively discussed lists on Listology in quite some time. I'm assuming of course, that these are personal opinions.

You might (or might not) find interesting the discussion of the Harmony in Red on this page.

I would like to see the artists credited here.

Thanks for acquainting me with We Are Family.

For Maggot Brain, why not name the group, Funkadelic, and not just the guitarist/co-writer?

Rock Lobster? Really? I mean, I enjoy the song, but I could name at least 10 works of art I prefer for that year, most notably the Clash's London Calling album and the movie Apocalypse Now. Do you think there is some hidden brilliance in the song I'm not picking up on, or do you just not really like any other picks for 1979?

Oh, and by the way, brilliant idea for a list, and I love the diversity of your picks. Bravo! I could never make a list as cool as this one.

Of all the Residents albums that could show up on the list, why choose Demons Dance Alone?

Einstein on the Beach is great, though I admit I mostly listen to "Knee 1", over and over and over. :-)

This is the most badass list. I don't think I'd even try something this audacious! Thanks for being courageous and doing something few, if anyone, could. Not to mention you made many great picks it seems (I couldn't possibly claim to be able to honestly critique all these against the entire world of art. Plus its subjective anyway.)

But with that said, you may want to consider "Kind Of Blue-Miles Davis" for 1959. It's very difficult to believe something from that (or most any year) could top it. It is probably the most unanimously hailed album in history. I don't know of any single instance of it not receiving a perfect rating by critics and fans and I can rarely recall it not being voted the greatest jazz album ever made in any large scale poll. After 46 years it not only stands up well, it TOWERS over almost any musical work in history. It is spoken of mythically, preciously, as if sacred. It is impossibly beautful. The definition of art. The epitome of aesthetics. It is something unnattainable: perfect jazz. It generally hits one like a ton of bricks (and overwhelmed tears) around the 10th listen or so, and then again, even more extroardinarily, after another 20. So, if you haven't heard it, don't expect to "get it" right away, especially if you don't listen to much jazz.

That said, perhaps the most incredible thing about it is that each song recorded for the album was the first take. That means the performers Miles Davis, John Coltrane and others got it right the first time, no practice intervals, nothing. Additionally, legend has it that it wasn't only the first take but it's virtually all "off-the-cuff" as well, meaning they just played and this is what came out: instant communication, no thought involved, just playing by feel alone. There is not one mistake, not one misplay, not one moment that isn't just right.

It is miraculous.

Hopefully you get an idea of why I think it should be on there. I would strongly suggest you consider it. There are a few others I would place in the same category but this is good for now.

What about "Loveless-My Bloody Valentine" ahead of "Spiderland" for 1991?

One more thing: I love your Reggie Miller pick! How about Jordan's 1998 finish in the NBA finals of 1. scoring to put the Bulls down by one, then 2. stealing the ball from Malone, then 3. going down the court and nailing the game winner to capture the NBA crown. It's the pinnacle moment of the greatest competitive athlete we've ever seen, and it seems scripted.

That's all for now. Thanks for the awesome list! Please include explanations if possible as that would make it even better.

Thanks for all the links. Keep adding them, and especially your annotations when you can!

This is an admirable list - overambitious, but admirable. Even though you do limit your scope to a 'work of art' for each year, it is stlll ambitious. More ambitious, and difficult, would be, of course, to attempt a separate list for each artistic medium - pictorial, musical, theatrical, literary, cinematic, etc.

The trouble with these time-constrained lists of yours is that they conflict with the historical and cultural dynamics of the human phenomena they are about. All those phenomena, whether art or political assassination/executuion, or whatever, have their fat and their lean periods; their periods when, for example, a great genius or vigorous fashion appears, or when a Hill or a Gandhi or a Kennedy is assassinated. It's regrettable, perhaps, but some days nobody important gets assassinated; some years there are no truly great works of art.

These are the considerations that give me the creeps about these sorts of lists, even while I admire them. Hell, I may even have done one or two myself :-)