The Aesthetic of Silence
John Cage
Minimal art
China
Film
Music
- The Aesthetic of Silence
- Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) an American poet
“The impulse to create begins - often terribly and fearfully - in a tunnel of silence.
Every real poem is the breaking of an existing silence, and the first question we might ask any poem is, what kind of voice is breaking silence, and what kind of silence is being broken?”
- Susan Sontag (1933-2004) an American writer and critic
- I her In The Aesthetics of Silence, Susan Sontag examines how silence mediates the role of art as a form of spirituality in an increasingly secular culture.
- I her In The Aesthetics of Silence, Susan Sontag examines how silence mediates the role of art as a form of spirituality in an increasingly secular culture.
- Adrienne Rich (1929-2012) an American poet
- John Cage (1912 -1992) an American composer and music theorist
- John Cage was much taken with silence. And noise, too.
- His apartment once had a malfunctioning fire alarm "that beeped all night." No one slept but Cage.
"I remained in bed, listened carefully to its pattern, and worked it into my thoughts and dreams; and I slept very well".
- Where the Heart Beats - John Cage, Zen Buddhism, and the Inner Life of Artists (2013)
by Kay Larson
- John Cage sought the silence of a mind at peace with itself—and found it in Zen Buddhism, a spiritual path that changed both his music and his view of the universe.
- John Cage sought the silence of a mind at peace with itself—and found it in Zen Buddhism, a spiritual path that changed both his music and his view of the universe.
- John Cage's interview
- About silence
- About silence
- 4’33” (1952)
- One more key moment in the prehistory of sound art was that in 1948, John Cage conceived a plan to compose a four-minute piece of uninterrupted silence, and to sell it to the music corporations but it never happened.
- In 1952, he encountered a set of white paintings by Robert Rauschenberg, "White Painting [three panel", 1951.
- Many viewers did not even perceive that they had been painted. One of the strongest supporters of Rauschenberg’s work was John Cage.
- This had a tremendous impact on Cage. Cage said that his decision to create 4’33” (1952) came after seeing Rauschenberg’s White Paintings. The work is "meant to be perceived as consisting of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed."
- Just as Cage wanted us to listen to the ambient sounds in 4’33”, Rauschenberg wants us to read the ambient visuals in his White Paintings.
John Cage - 4'33" by David Tudor
John Cage: 4'33'' / Petrenko · Berliner Philharmoniker
- In Cage’s work, we hear what is normally inaudible. The ambient noise of a concert hall is what we ignore when we focus on a piece. The premiere of 4’33” took place at the Maverick Concert Hall, Woodstock, New York.
- The audience, not prepared to listen to itself, was anxious and finally many people walked out.
- Cage said after the performance,
- Discussions of 4’33” have tended to conclude that its purpose is to emphasize that there is no such thing as true silence and to encourage listeners to appreciate the raw, unorchestrated aural experience of the world around them.
- Cage thought of this as a certain kind of music, in fact, he came to say "music" is more interesting than music made by instruments.
- Cage considered silence to be neither the opposite of sound and music nor its absence.
- For him, silence was a landscape of unintentional sounds experienced between intentional sounds; as such, it was absolutely substantive, inseparable from and interdependent with sound.
- Now this piece is often thought of as a kind of specific silent piece, but as Cage constantly reminded people that
“There's no such thing as silence”, he famously said, “there is no such thing as an empty space or empty time. There's always something to see, something to hear.”
- Minimal art (Minimalism)
- Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts.
- Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts.
- Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
(1886-1969) a German-American architect
- A pioneer of what is now known as minimalist architecture, his approach was one of simplicity, clarity and precision in design.
- He is often associated with his fondness for the aphorisms "less is more" and "God is in the details".
- A pioneer of what is now known as minimalist architecture, his approach was one of simplicity, clarity and precision in design.
- Yves Klein (1928-1962) a French artist
- Klein addressed his aesthetic standpoint about top-grade art...
“The first comes noting and next is deep-nothing and finality is the deepest profound.”
- Klein addressed his aesthetic standpoint about top-grade art...
- Carl Andre (1935 - 2024)
an American minimalist artist
“My work has not been about the least condition of art but about the "necessary" condition of art. I always try to have in my work only what is necessary to it”
- Sol LeWitt (1928 - 2007) an American artist
- He is linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism.
- He is linked to various movements, including conceptual art and minimalism.
- Donald Judd (1928 –1994) an American artist
- Design has to work. Art does not. If someone says it's art, it's art.
- In his work, Judd sought autonomy and clarity for the constructed object and the space created by it, ultimately achieving a rigorously democratic presentation without compositional hierarchy.
- He is generally considered the leading international exponent of "minimalism", and its most important theoretician through such writings as "Specific Objects" (1964).
- Design has to work. Art does not. If someone says it's art, it's art.
- Richard Serra (1938 – 2024) an American artist
- known for his large-scale abstract sculptures made for site-specific landscape, urban, and architectural settings, whose work has been primarily associated with Postminimalism.
- known for his large-scale abstract sculptures made for site-specific landscape, urban, and architectural settings, whose work has been primarily associated with Postminimalism.
- Lee Ufan
(1936 - )
- Lee Ufan came to prominence in the late 1960s as one of the major theoretical and practical proponents of the avant-garde Mono-ha (Object School) group.
- The Mono-ha school of thought was Japan’s first contemporary art movement to gain international recognition.
- It rejected Western notions of representation, focusing on the relationships of materials and perceptions rather than on expression or intervention.
- Lee Ufan came to prominence in the late 1960s as one of the major theoretical and practical proponents of the avant-garde Mono-ha (Object School) group.
- China
- This notion and tendency can be traced back to 6th century BC.
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 12： On Luxury Life Style
五色令人目盲 The five varieties of color blind one’s eye.
五音令人耳聾 The five varieties of sound deafen one’s ears.
五味令人口爽 The five varieties of flavor numb one’s taste.
- Zhuang Zhou (?~? BC, Chinese philosopher)
"If it is right, it will be silent.
If it is silent, it will be clear.
If it is clear, it will be empty.
If it is empty, there is nothing we cannot do, even if we are doing nothing".
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 12： On Luxury Life Style
- This notion and tendency can be traced back to 6th century BC.
- Film
- Motion picture
- Early on, when film and animation were newer, certain types of music and sounds always went along with certain visuals.
- Sad scenes had sad music, dramatic scenes had intense dramatic music, and action scenes had up-tempo music; most of it was simple and one-dimensional.
- With modern audiences, musical tastes have evolved and changed, and the combination is now far more sophisticated.
- Now a single instrument can punctuate a sad scene. For example, a piano can play single chords or notes with huge pauses between each measure (bar).
- With evolved and sophisticated audiences, it is acceptable to play opposites against each other with greater effect.
- For example, a horrific or violent scene sets to light or happy music, a high-speed car chase scene set against a classical or operatic music, or a poetic visual set to unpoetic music...
- Naturally, there are instances where music reinforces the story, but there are also many instances where the right choice is to use no music at all.
- In a sad scene, scaling back the music, either in volume or in the number of instruments, to the amount of music in a given time, can change the mood and feeling dramatically; in the right scene, 'silence' can be sadder or more poignant than any music.
- Too much music would definitely mar the scene and could even make it seem trite or contrived.
- Sound is a great element you can use to enhance your work. By the same token, the lack of sound (silence) can be also used as effectively as a full orchestra.
- Early on, when film and animation were newer, certain types of music and sounds always went along with certain visuals.
- Motion picture
- Into Great Silence (2005)) by Philip Gröning
- It is an intimate portrayal of the everyday lives of Carthusian monks in the French Alps.
- The fimmaker proposed the idea for the film to the monks in 1984, but the Carthusians said they wanted time to think about it.
- They responded to him 16 years later to say they were willing to permit him to shoot the film if he was still interested.
- The preparations for the film lasted 2 years, shooting alone took 1 year, and post-production another 2 years. 21 years elapsed between the first idea and the finshed film.
- The final cut contains neither spoken commentary nor added sound effects.
- It consists of sounds and images and that depict the rhythm of monastic life - including the sound of turning pages, the muffled sound of stealthy footsteps, the sound of the trees rustling in the wind - with occasional intertitles displaying selections from Holy Scripture.
- In Pursuit of Silence
(2015) Patrick Shen
- In Pursuit of Silence is a meditative exploration of our relationship with silence, sound and the impact of noise on our lives.
- Beginning with an ode to John Cage’s ground-breaking composition 4’33”, In Pursuit of Silence takes us on an immersive cinematic journey around the globe– from a traditional tea ceremony in Kyoto, to the streets of the loudest city on the planet, Mumbai during the wild festival season – and inspires us to experience silence and celebrate the wonders of our world.
26:28 Tea ceremony | appeciation of silence
36:56 Deep listening
- In Pursuit of Silence is a meditative exploration of our relationship with silence, sound and the impact of noise on our lives.
- Music
- John Tavener (1944–2013) an English composer
- John Tavener is often grouped with other contemporary classical composers, collectively called “Holy Minimalists”, including Henryk Górecki and Arvo Pärt.
- John Tavener is often grouped with other contemporary classical composers, collectively called “Holy Minimalists”, including Henryk Górecki and Arvo Pärt.
- John Tavener (1944–2013) an English composer
- Towards Silence: The soundlessness of sound
The final State is the longest, the quietest and the most full statement of the five revolving ideas, and it is played muted, at the very threshold of audibility, which finally leads to silence.
In a sense this is not music that should be heard as concert music but rather meditated on as a form of ‘liquid’ metaphysics.
- Arvo Pärt (1935- ) an Estonian composer
- Arvo Pärt is one of the greatest exponents of “Holy Minimalism”, a contemporary Western classical movement.
“Silence is the pause in me when I am near to God.” —Arvo Pärt
- He started his career exploring Neoclassical and Soviet Avant-garde styles of music; however, in his quest to discover his unique creative spirit, he was driven into nearly a decade of contemplative silence, during which time he studied Gregorian chant and the Notre Dame School as well as vocal polyphony, believing that everything he had accomplished prior to this point was devoid of any true meaning or value.
- Tabula Rasa (1977) The piece contains two movements, "Ludus" and "Silentium."
"The second movement, “Silentium”, is intentionally slower-paced with the delicate melody evolving gradually. And yet as it approaches its tonic end, it progressively becomes more prolonged and gentle, until the final note is left unplayed."
"Silence prevails and all is resolved. I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played. This one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence, comforts me …
Silentium: The sound of the sublime
- Arvo Pärt is one of the greatest exponents of “Holy Minimalism”, a contemporary Western classical movement.
- Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
an Austrian composer and conductor
- As Mahler had wished, only his name was on the tombstone.
“He who seeks me, knows who I was. The others do not have to know”.
Grave Gustav Mahler
- As Mahler had wished, only his name was on the tombstone.
- The Sounds of Silence (1964) Paul Simon
Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence
"They missed the point. There’s no such thing as silence. What they thought was silence, because they didn’t know how to listen, was full of accidental sounds.
You could hear the wind stirring outside during the first movement. During the second, raindrops began pattering the roof, and during the third the people themselves made all kinds of interesting sounds as they talked or walked out."
* The purpose of Carthusian life is total withdrawal from the world to serve God by personal devotion and privation.
Spiegel im Spiegel