In a time where high school guidance counselors would sooner hand in their resignation papers than advise students to pursue careers in the arts, Otto Muller, an adjunct instructor in the music department, is known for breathing the notion of an artistic lifestyle into the minds of his students.
His affinity for the arts transcends Baird Hall to the surrounding Buffalo area where the tabooed life of an artist is far from dead.
"If your desire is to create art and your conviction is that art is a worthwhile endeavor, then you'll continue to make work regardless of what the societal stigma says," Muller said, who graduated from UB in 2003.
Muller captivates his student audience every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, no small feat for a graduate student pursuing his Ph.D. He conducts his own music courses that entertain and unconventionally give students a new appreciation for musical awareness.
Beyond the classroom, he is also involved in a wide range of musical projects and undertakings, and has dabbled in an array of instruments, from the accordion to the banjo. He is also currently a member of the Open Music Ensemble, a group that performs the avant garde "graphic scores."
The group regularly performs seemingly bizarre tasks such as going out to the city of Buffalo and recording some varied duration of the natural surrounding noises. With the help of his fellow band members they then combine their efforts for a musical interpretation of the sounds they have heard.
The endeavor may seem far too strange to bear any importance, but that's just fine with Muller.
"Because of its unfamiliarity, people judge experimental art and refuse to pay attention to it. When really, a little attention is all it takes to get it," Muller said.
The courses Muller's teach range from the regimental Music Theory to his preferred Music & Society class, where he examines everything from the rise of jazz music to the censorship of Eminem and Marilyn Manson.
Placing such a high value on understanding the importance of art, it's no surprise that one of Muller's favorite subjects to teach is the art that came from the Russian Revolution era.
"Here's a nation of people who cared about art and music because they believed it would actually change the direction of their country. That same principle can be applied to the U.S. today," Muller said.
He encourages anyone living in Buffalo over the summer to check out the festival "June in Buffalo," where students from around the world come to UB for a week's worth of musical performances right on campus. Muller also suggests visiting the Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center and the Soundlab, two of Buffalo's finest havens for the experimental artist.
A firm believer in the importance of an artist's role in society, Muller inspires students to pursue their artistic abilities despite what may be seen as variance from popular interpretations of success.
He says that the inviolable "starving artist" perception most commonly portrayed in society is no reason to stray from art or other pursuits an individual deems as important contributions to culture.
"Artists don't need to anticipate being poor. As long as you can find an artistic community, you can continue to be an artist, doing what you love, while working a regular, decent-paying job," Muller said. "Health insurance would definitely be nice though."
