Rock music is bad for art, according to Russian researchers.
Mikhail Piotrovsky, director of the State Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, says concerts in the nearby Winter Square have damaged the sculptures housed in his museum, and possibly the building itself too.
According to the Independent, Piotrovsky was so concerned that he reached an agreement with the Rolling Stones to keep the noise down when they played in the square last year. The paper says he was “distressed” when Paul McCartney’s 2004 concert shook the museum’s windows (and maybe also by the fact he played some Wings numbers, but that’s my speculation).
According to a currently unpublished three-year study from the museum, every 10 concerts above 82 decibels “add an extra year” to the life of the work, say both the Daily Telegraph and the Independent (in suspiciously similar sentences – below the fold). In terms of artificial aging, rather than expanding lifetime, presumably.
Rock concerts can easily top 100 decibels and many places that host them have sculptures: the Independent cites Somerset House and Knebworth in the UK. Before we once again blame the evils of the world on rock music though, it’s worth noting a performance off Wagner can top 90 decibels.
Preliminary results of the three-year study, being examined by the Grabar Art Restoration Institute in Moscow, show that every 10 concerts above 82 decibels add an extra year to the age of a work.
The preliminary results of the three-year study, being examined by the Grabar Art Restoration Institute in Moscow, show that every 10 concerts above 82 decibels add an extra year to the age of a work.