John Cage – Unsilence

UNSILENCE

SILENCEThere is no such thing as

UNSILENCE

THE ANARCHY OF SILENCE

TOTAL-SOUND-SPACE

JOHN CAGE

THE ANTITHESIS

SOUND

S

ILENCE

When

you ta

lk ab

out the w

eather

everyb

ody knows e

xactly

what yo

u mean

.

But w

hat if y

ou want to

talk

about s

ilence?

Sile

nce see

ms to be o

ne of th

e grea

test m

ystery

of all.

The first few ste

ps, the firs

t few

sounds: the fir

st moment w

hen you

hear a s

ound – it changes:

hearing

more, hearing less,

hearing better,

hearing worse

– but you will

always

hear something and suddenly

you

can never st

op listening.

Unsilence is

a syste

m, a str

ucture, a

framework to visu

alise John Cage’s

antithesis

of sound and sile

nce.

Speak the text, or speak nothing –

display

images,

perform

it in pubic

or priv

ate.

SILENCE

SILENCEPronunciation: sailens

noun

Complete absence of sound –Sirens pierce the silence of the night an eerie silence descended over the house.

The fact or state of abstaining from speech –Karen had withdrawn into sullen silence she was reduced to silence for a moment.

The avoidance of mentioning or discussing something –Politicians keep their silence on the big questions.

The state of standing still and not speaking as a sign of respect for someone deceased or in an opportunity for prayer –A moment of silence presided over by a local minister.

d e f i n i t i o n o x f o r d e n g l i s h d i c t i o n a r y

Silence became the central to Cage’s work, the thing with which he was most often connected. Silence however, is never created – it is always (t)here before one can produce anything on top of it. Silence is the greatest mystery of all.

JOHN

CAGE

QUESTIONS

Wha

t if I

ask

you

som

e

Is there such a thing as silence?

Is silence athematic?

Even if I get away from people, do I still have to listen to something?

If I can see it do I have to hear it too?

Is there always something to hear?

Never any peace an quiet?

If I don’t hear it does it still communicate?

will that make things clear?

SILENCE IS THE COMPLETE ABSENCEOF SOUND

d e f i n i t i o n o x f o r d e n g l i s h d i c t i o n a r y

Is that even possible?

But first – what is a sound

SOUND

SOUNDPronunciation: sound

noun

The sensation produced by stimulation of the organs of hearing by vibrations transmit-ted through the air or other medium –

Mechanical vibrations transmitted through an elastic medium, traveling in air at a speed of approximately 1087 feet (331 meters) per second at sea level –

The particular auditory effect produced by a given cause –The sound of music.

Any auditory effect; any audible vibrational disturbance –All kinds of sounds.

A noise, vocal utterance, musical tone, or the like –The sounds from the next room.

d e f i n i t i o n o x f o r d e n g l i s h d i c t i o n a r y

s o u n d

Synonyms –

SOUND, NOISE, TONESound, noise, tone refer to something heard.

Sound and noise –Sound and noise are often used interchangeably for anything perceived by means of hearing.

Sound – Sound, however, is more general in application, being used for anything within earshot: the sound of running water.

Noise –Noise, caused by irregular vibrations, is more properly ap-plied to a loud, discordant, or unpleasant sound: the noise of shouting.

Tone –Tone is applied to a musical sound having a certain quality, resonance, and pitch.

d e f i n i t i o n o x f o r d e n g l i s h d i c t i o n a r y

=

The Characteristics

NOISE is not intel-lectualised – the ear can hear them directly and don’t have to go through any abstrac-tion about them

=

The Characteristics

SOU

ND

acc

ompl

ishe

s no

thin

g

Thi

s is p

er se

jus

t a so

und,

incl

udin

g

all

aspe

cts c

hara

cter

isin

g a

soun

d.

FREQUENCY OR PITCH

TIMPBRE

MORPHOLOGY

AMPLITUDE OR LOUDNESS

DURATION

For anything. it means that noises are as beau-tiful (…) as so-called musical tones, for the simple reason that they are sounds. Regard-ing sounds, the high-est purpose is to have no purpose at all. Each sound is unique and not the same twice. They are a signature of our environment and tell the story of what is happening around us.

SOUND COMES INTO ITS OWNWhat does that mean?

A sound does not view itself as though, as ought, as needing another sound for its elucidation; it has no time for any considera-tion – it is occupied with the performance of its characteristics: before it has died away it must have mead perfectly exact its frequency, its loudness, its length, its overtone structure, the precise morphology of these and of itself.

Wou

ld I

con

tin

ue a

skin

g qu

esti

ons

if q

uest

ion

s we

re n

ot w

ords

but

wer

e so

unds

?

If w

ords

are

sou

nds

, are

they

mus

ical

or

are

they

noi

ses?

I

f sou

nds

are

noi

ses

but n

ot w

ords

, are

they

mea

nin

gful

? A

re th

ey m

usic

al?

Say

, the

re a

re tw

o so

unds

an

d tw

o pe

ople

an

d on

e of

eac

h is

bea

utif

ul, i

s th

ere

betw

een

all

four

an

y co

mm

unic

atio

n?

An

d if

ther

e ar

e ru

les,

who

mad

e th

em, I

ask

you

? D

oes

it b

egin

som

ewhe

re, I

mea

n, a

nd

if s

o, w

here

doe

s it

sto

p?

Wou

ld w

e ev

er b

e ab

le to

get

so

that

we

thou

ght t

he u

gly

soun

ds w

ere

beau

tifu

l?

If w

e dr

op b

eaut

y, w

hat h

ave

we g

ot?

I a

sk y

ou, s

omet

ime,

too,

sou

nds

hap

pen

ing

in ti

me,

wha

t wil

l hap

pen

to o

ur e

xper

ien

ce o

f hea

rin

g, y

ours

, min

e, o

ur e

ars,

h

eari

ng,

–

wha

t wil

l hap

pen

if s

oun

ds b

ein

g be

auti

ful s

top

som

etim

e an

d th

e on

ly s

oun

ds to

hea

r ar

e n

ot b

eaut

iful

to h

ear

but a

re u

gly,

– w

hat w

ill h

appe

n to

us?

H

ave

we g

ot tr

uth?

H

ave

we g

ot r

elig

ion

? D

o we

hav

e a

myt

holo

gy?

Do

you

mea

n to

say

it’s

a p

urpo

sele

ss p

lay?

I

s th

at w

hat i

t is

when

you

get

up

and

hear

the

firs

t sou

nd

of e

ach

day?

Is

it p

ossi

ble

that

I c

ould

go

on m

onot

onou

sly

aski

ng

ques

tion

s fo

reve

r?

Do

I ha

ve to

kn

ow w

hen

to s

top?

D

oes

it h

elp

aski

ng

ques

tion

s at

all?

May

I a

sk e

ight

mor

e qu

esti

ons?

If I

hav

e tw

o so

unds

are

they

rel

ated

? I

s so

meo

ne

is n

eare

r on

e of

them

than

he

is to

the

seco

nd,

is h

e m

ore

rela

ted

to th

e fi

rst o

ne?

W

hat a

bout

sou

nds

that

are

too

far

away

for

us to

hea

r th

em?

S

oun

ds a

re ju

st v

ibra

tion

s, is

n’t

that

true

? C

an w

e se

para

te s

oun

d fr

om li

fe?

Do

you

know

how

to g

et r

id o

f all

soun

ds?

How

? I

s a

soun

d a

bles

sin

g?

Wou

ld I

con

tin

ue a

skin

g qu

esti

ons

if q

uest

ion

s we

re n

ot w

ords

but

wer

e so

unds

?

If w

ords

are

sou

nds

, are

they

mus

ical

or

are

they

noi

ses?

I

f sou

nds

are

noi

ses

but n

ot w

ords

, are

they

mea

nin

gful

? A

re th

ey m

usic

al?

Say

, the

re a

re tw

o so

unds

an

d tw

o pe

ople

an

d on

e of

eac

h is

bea

utif

ul, i

s th

ere

betw

een

all

four

an

y co

mm

unic

atio

n?

An

d if

ther

e ar

e ru

les,

who

mad

e th

em, I

ask

you

? D

oes

it b

egin

som

ewhe

re, I

mea

n, a

nd

if s

o, w

here

doe

s it

sto

p?

Wou

ld w

e ev

er b

e ab

le to

get

so

that

we

thou

ght t

he u

gly

soun

ds w

ere

beau

tifu

l?

If w

e dr

op b

eaut

y, w

hat h

ave

we g

ot?

I a

sk y

ou, s

omet

ime,

too,

sou

nds

hap

pen

ing

in ti

me,

wha

t wil

l hap

pen

to o

ur e

xper

ien

ce o

f hea

rin

g, y

ours

, min

e, o

ur e

ars,

h

eari

ng,

–

wha

t wil

l hap

pen

if s

oun

ds b

ein

g be

auti

ful s

top

som

etim

e an

d th

e on

ly s

oun

ds to

hea

r ar

e n

ot b

eaut

iful

to h

ear

but a

re u

gly,

– w

hat w

ill h

appe

n to

us?

H

ave

we g

ot tr

uth?

H

ave

we g

ot r

elig

ion

? D

o we

hav

e a

myt

holo

gy?

Do

you

mea

n to

say

it’s

a p

urpo

sele

ss p

lay?

I

s th

at w

hat i

t is

when

you

get

up

and

hear

the

firs

t sou

nd

of e

ach

day?

Is

it p

ossi

ble

that

I c

ould

go

on m

onot

onou

sly

aski

ng

ques

tion

s fo

reve

r?

Do

I ha

ve to

kn

ow w

hen

to s

top?

D

oes

it h

elp

aski

ng

ques

tion

s at

all?

May

I a

sk e

ight

mor

e qu

esti

ons?

If I

hav

e tw

o so

unds

are

they

rel

ated

? I

s so

meo

ne

is n

eare

r on

e of

them

than

he

is to

the

seco

nd,

is h

e m

ore

rela

ted

to th

e fi

rst o

ne?

W

hat a

bout

sou

nds

that

are

too

far

away

for

us to

hea

r th

em?

S

oun

ds a

re ju

st v

ibra

tion

s, is

n’t

that

true

? C

an w

e se

para

te s

oun

d fr

om li

fe?

Do

you

know

how

to g

et r

id o

f all

soun

ds?

How

? I

s a

soun

d a

bles

sin

g?

Wou

ld I

con

tin

ue a

skin

g qu

esti

ons

if q

uest

ions

wer

e no

t wor

ds b

ut w

ere

soun

ds?

If w

ords

are

sou

nds,

are

they

mus

ical

or

are

they

noi

ses?

I

f sou

nds

are

nois

es b

ut n

ot w

ords

, are

they

mea

ning

ful?

A

re th

ey m

usic

al?

Say

, the

re a

re tw

o so

unds

an

d tw

o pe

ople

an

d on

e of

eac

h is

bea

utif

ul, i

s th

ere

betw

een

all f

our

any

com

mun

icat

ion?

A

nd if

ther

e ar

e ru

les,

who

mad

e th

em, I

ask

you

? D

oes

it b

egin

som

ewhe

re, I

mea

n, a

nd if

so,

whe

re d

oes

it s

top?

W

ould

we

ever

be

able

to g

et s

o th

at w

e th

ough

t the

ugl

y so

unds

wer

e be

auti

ful?

I

f we

drop

bea

uty,

wha

t hav

e we

got

? I

ask

you

n ti

me,

wha

t will

hap

pen

to o

ur e

xper

ienc

e of

hea

ring

, you

rs, m

ine,

our

ear

s, h

eari

ng,–

wha

t wilo

p so

met

imea

nd th

e on

ly s

ound

s to

hea

r ar

e no

t bea

utif

ul to

hea

r bu

t are

ugl

y,–

wha

t will

hap

pen

to u

s?

sdsa

fdqa

fqew

xwdk

cjvk

ycjv

kcvj

kdvj

kdvj

kdjv

kcjv

kcxv

jave

we

got t

ruth

? H

vgdf

gdfg

fdgd

gfdg

dfgd

fgdf

gave

we

got r

elig

ion?

D

o we

hav

e a

myt

holo

gy?

ean

to s

ay i

and

hear

the

firs

t sou

nd o

f eac

h da

y?

Ist

ions

fore

ve

rgd

fgd?

D

o I

May

I a

sk th

ree

mor

e qu

esti

on I

f I h

ave

two

sou

Wha

t abo

ut s

ound

s th

a S

oun

ds a

re ju

st v

ibra

t C

an w

e se

para

te s

ound

from

life

? D

o yo

u kn

ow h

ow to

get

rid

of a

ll so

unds

? H

ow?

Is

a so

und

a bl

essi

ng?

W

here

eve

r w

e ar

e,

w

hat

we

hear

is

mos

tly

noi

se.

Whe

n w

e ig

nor

e it

, it

dis

turb

s us

.

Whe

n w

e li

sten

to

it,

we

fin

d it

fas

cin

atin

g.

The

re a

lway

s ar

e so

unds

t

o be

hea

rd a

n a

ll o

f th

em

are

exc

elle

nt.

NOISE IS

Som

eon

e m

ay o

bjec

t th

at t

he s

oun

ds t

hat

happ

ened

wer

e n

ot i

nte

rest

ing.

Let

him

. N

ext

tim

e he

hea

rs t

he p

iece

, it

wil

l be

diff

eren

t, p

erha

ps le

ss i

nte

rest

ing,

per

haps

sud

den

ly e

xcit

ing.

An

d li

fe t

he s

ame:

Alw

ays

diff

eren

t, s

omet

imes

exc

itin

g, s

omet

imes

bor

ing,

som

etim

es g

entl

y pl

easi

ng.

The

dis

harm

ony

of e

very

day

soun

ds is

sim

ply

a ha

rmon

y to

whi

ch m

any

are

unac

cust

omed

.

PURE SOUND

Sounds a

re co

ntinuall

y hap

pening w

hether

you pro

duce them

or not.

They

occur w

hether

intended

or not.

Nothing t

akes p

lace b

ut sounds –

those

that are

notated

and th

ose that

are not.

I HAVE BECOME A

– LISTENER –

SOUNDS

SOUND

ONTROL

A P T U R E A N DC

W

e wa

nt to

I HAVE BECOME A

– LISTENER –

CN

O

TR

OL

If one does not give up his attempts to

control sound,

he may complicate things.

I would like to think that the sounds peo-ple do hear in a con-cert make them more aware of the sounds they hear in the street or out in the count-ry, or anywhere they may be

TOTAL SOUND

SPA

CE

The

re is

no

such

thin

g as

an

em

pty

spac

e or

an

empt

y ti

me.

The

re is

alw

ays

som

ethi

ng to

see

and

som

ethi

ng to

hea

r.

1 Is it low? 2 Is it in the middle? 3 Is it soft? Is it loud? 4 5 Are there two? 6 Or even more than two? 7 Is it a doorbell? 8 Why isn’t it? 9 Was it an air plane? 10 Is it a noise? 11 Is it music? Is it softer than before? 12 Is it supersonic? 13 14 When will it stop? 15 What’s coming? Is it time? 16 17 Is it very short? 18 Very long? 19 Far away? 20 Just medium? 21 Is it coming closer? 22 Is sound enough? 23 Is it a sound? 24 Then again, is it music? 25 Is the word music music? 26 Does it communicate anything? 27 Must it? 28 Is it high? 29 Is it low? 30 Is it in the middle? 31 Is it an interval? 32 What is an interval? 33 How many sounds are there all together? One million? 35 36 Ten thousand? 37 Eighty? 38 Will this never stop? 39 Why won’t it? 40 Should it? 41 How many sounds can you hear at the same time? 42 Are we hearing all the same? 43 Do you disagree? 44 Will you change your mind? 45 Is it high? 46 Is it low? 47 Is it in between? 48 Sounds are just vibrations, isn’t that true?

WHAT

IF I ASK

48

1 Is it low? 2 Is it in the middle? 3 Is it soft? Is it loud? 4 5 Are there two? 6 Or even more than two? 7 Is it a doorbell? 8 Why isn’t it? 9 Was it an air plane? 10 Is it a noise? 11 Is it music? Is it softer than before? 12 Is it supersonic? 13 14 When will it stop? 15 What’s coming? Is it time? 16 17 Is it very short? 18 Very long? 19 Far away? 20 Just medium? 21 Is it coming closer? 22 Is sound enough? 23 Is it a sound? 24 Then again, is it music? 25 Is the word music music? 26 Does it communicate anything? 27 Must it? 28 Is it high? 29 Is it low? 30 Is it in the middle? 31 Is it an interval? 32 What is an interval? 33 How many sounds are there all together? One million? 35 36 Ten thousand? 37 Eighty? 38 Will this never stop? 39 Why won’t it? 40 Should it? 41 How many sounds can you hear at the same time? 42 Are we hearing all the same? 43 Do you disagree? 44 Will you change your mind? 45 Is it high? 46 Is it low? 47 Is it in between? 48 Sounds are just vibrations, isn’t that true?

QUESTIONS

Am I now wiser than before?

Are we getting anywhere asking questions?

MAY I ASK ONE MORE QUESTION?

DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION?

We life in a total sound space.

Any sound at any point

in this total sound space

The exposition of a particular sound in this space

By the alteration of any one of these determinants,

the position of the sound in sound space changes.

Any sound at any point at any point in this total sound space

and

eac

h ex

peri

ence

Eac

h ex

peri

ence

is d

iffe

ren

t

is c

hang

ing. L

ike

life

–

it c

han

ges.

can move to become a sound at any the point.

being the result of five determinants:

can move

to become a sound at another point.

Each moment

presents what happens in our environment.

Frequency or pitch

Amplitude or loudness

Overtone structure or timbre Duration

and

Morphology

Try to make silence we cannot

Try to make silence we cannot

There will always be sounds

JOHN CAGE

bo

rn 5

. Sep

tem

ber

1912

,

in

Los

Ang

eles

Jo

hn

Mil

ton

Cag

e Jr

.

die

d 1

2. A

ugus

t 19

92,

i

n N

ew Y

ork

RADICAL COMPOSERMUSIC THEORIST PHILOSOPHER

ARTIST AND WRITER

PIONEER OF THE 20TH CENTURY AVANT-GARDE CULTURE

The most influential and controversial American experi-mental composer of the 20th century, john cage was the father of indeterminism, a Zen-inspired aesthetic which expelled all notions of choice from the creative process. Rejecting the most deeply held compositional principles of the past – logical consequence, vertical sensitivity, and tonality among them – Cage created a ground breaking alternative to the serialist method, de constructing tradi-tions established hundreds and even thousands of years earlier; the end result was a radical new artistic approach which impacted all of the music composed in its wake, forever altering not only the ways in which sounds are cre-ated but also how they’re absorbed by audiences. Indeed, it’s often been suggested that he did to music what Karl Marx did to government –he levelled it.

JOHN

CAGE

Whether I make them or not,

there are always sounds to be heard and all of them are excellent.

4’33’’ (Four Minutes and Thirty-three Seconds, 1952

Imaginary Landscape No. 4, 1951

Sonatas and Interludes for prepared piano, 1946–48

Fontana Mix, 1958

Cheap Imitation, 1969

BEST KNOWN W

ORK

Whether I make them or not,

there are always sounds to be heard and all of them are excellent.

THE ANTI

THESIS

WHAT IS SILENCE

MAY I ASK AGAIN –

Nonexistent opposite

SOUND

Thi

nk fo

r a

mom

ent a

bout

sou

nd,

how

it h

as p

itch

, lou

dnes

s, ti

mbr

e an

d du

rati

on

a

nd

how

sile

nce

whic

h is

its

none

xist

ent o

ppos

ite

has

onl

y du

rati

on.

Silence has only duration.

SOUND

ANTITHESIS

SILENCE

SOUND

ANTITHESIS

SILENCE

1971

JOHN

CAGE

„By

sile

nce

i m

ean

the

mul

tipl

icit

y of

act

ivit

y th

at c

onst

antl

y su

rrou

nds

us.

We

call

it

sile

nce

bec

ause

it

is f

ree

of o

ur a

c-ti

vity

. It

doe

s n

ot c

orre

spon

d to

ide

as o

f or

der

or e

xpre

ssiv

e fe

elin

g –

they

lead

to o

rder

an

d ex

pres

sion

, but

whe

n th

ey d

o,

it d

eafe

ns u

s to

the

soun

ds th

emse

lves

. „

SILENCE

THERE IS NO SILENCE

THERE IS NO SILENCE

The

re is

no

such

thin

g as

sile

nce.

Som

ethi

ng

is a

lway

s ha

ppen

ing

that

mak

es s

ound

.N

o on

e ca

n ha

ve a

n id

ea o

nce

he s

tart

s re

ally

list

enin

g. I

t is

very

sim

ple

but e

xtra

urg

ent.

I L E N C E OUND

S

Is a

ll of

the

soun

d we

do

not i

nten

d.

Effortless succession of sound arising, existing for a time and then passing away.

Thi

s uns

ilenc

e is s

impl

y a n

ew m

usic

to w

hich

man

y are

una

ccus

tom

ed.

We w

ant t

o

CO

O TN L

Rem

oving a

uthoria

l contro

l

allo

ws unex

pected

an eq

ually v

alid

conju

nctions a

nd outcom

es bu

t pre

sents

clea

r par

amete

rs.

BUT WE C

ANNOT

This play, however, is an affirm

ation of life-

not an attempt to bring order out of chaos

not to suggest improvem

ents in creation,

but simply a way of waking up to the very life we are living,

which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind

and one’s desires out of it’s way

and lets it act of its own accord.

THE ANARCHY OF

S

I

L

E

E

N

C

I had thought of leaving this last section

SILENT

THIS MOMENTIF YOU LET IT,

THIS MOMENTIT SUPPORTS ITSELF

ALL YOU CAN DO –

IS SUDDENLY LISTEN

Nadine Resch – Graphic Arts – 2012