John Cage – The Sound of Silence

Throughout the video, John Cage explains his love for music and tells others to experience sound of silence. He states that sound has no meaning but has variations to it. For example, he tells us that the sound of Beethoven and Mozart, their music is always the same. However, if you listen to traffic which Cage labels as silence, he says that it’s always different. Cage considers music as a means for a person to express his emotions and idea through talking. He feels that every sound in the universe is a response to something else and that there is always something to listen to. Furthermore, laughter and music are two things that don’t need a meaning, according to Cage.

After viewing the screening, I have realized that things we may consider as racket or chaos, is silence; such as traffic. I was shocked when he said that because traffic can be quite frustrating and annoying but Cage labels it as silence. It’s interesting to see how we view our surroundings and how a musician views their surroundings. But after viewing this, I will be far more aware of my surroundings and try to view everything from his perspective.

The Sound of Gibberish

First of all, ahahahah, that was just wacky. When it said “gibberish”, you would expect some crazy words, but that didn’t come till the middle or so. But throughout the tape, there was some really nice rhythm. For one, there were a few melodies I was familiar with, for example from that one childrens’ show “the teletubbies”. Than there comes the sound of a baby making “oogly woogly” sounds. Our first sounds as a baby was that of gibberish, that is what we think of it as now. But at that time, it was our first language.

I believe the best language is gibberish because of its ability to express ourselves without restrictions such as grammar or making sense. It’s interesting to see the different sounds that can come out of gibberish because it holds no boundary. Since the words don’t have to make sense, you can express yourself in anyway possible.

Acoustic Ecology

I did not know that “sound” had such a huge international organization of its own. The WFAE (The World Forum Acoustic Ecology) was founded in 1993 for all individuals who shared a common “concern with the state of the world’s soundscapes”. WFAE’s missions include: Education, Research and Study, Publishing and Distribution, Protecting and Preserving, and Designing and Creating. WFAE focuses on deepening the listeners’ understand of the sounds in their environments and their meanings. In reference to R&S, the WFAE focuses on monitoring and evaluating the actions affect and altering the quality of the sonic environment. It wants to understand the significance of the electro – acoustic media such as radio, television, background and foreground music, etc. Moreover, WFAE wishes to preserve natural places for quiet and maintaining healthy and acoustically balanced sonic environments.

Sound Artist: Samuel Beckett

Biography

Samuel Barclay Beckett (April 13^th, 1906 – December 22^nd, 1989) was an Irish dramatist, writer, and poet. Beckett focused his work on the human culture increasingly becoming formally and philosophically modest. Many consider Beckett one of the last modernists, and to many future writers, he was considered one of the first postmodernists. In 1969, Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature for his “writing, which – in new forms for the novel and drama – in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation”. On December 1989, he died in Paris due to respiratory problems. After Beckett graduated with a B.A., he took the post of lectuer d’anglais in the École Normale Superieure in Paris. While he was in Paris, he was introduced to James Joyce, an Irish author. This meeting was the beginning of a beautiful friendship and would impact the young Beckett in which he would aid James by helping him search the book “Finnegans Wake”. Beckett would go on to become Joyce’s student and assistant.

Sound Artist: John Cage

Biography

John Cage (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was the founder of chance music, electronic music, and non – standard use of musical instrument. He was an American composer and assumed to be the most influential. He was one of the leading figures of the post – war.

Influences

John Cage was an apprentice of the classical composer Arnold Schoenberg. He studied with in California at USC than at UCLA, as well as privately. Schoenberg became one of the biggest influences on Cage. It was quoted that Cage, “literally worshipped him”. Schoenberg’s influence and his methods are all documented in Cage’s lectures and writings.

Description of their work

Cage incorporates his idea of work in his quote, “it is better to make a piece of music than to perform one, better to perform one than to listen to one, better to listen to one than to misuse it as a means of distraction, entertainment, or acquisition of ‘culture.’”

Similarities between other artists

Throughout American history, there have been many American experimental composers that have been compared with Cage such as Morton Feldman, Karlheinz Stockhausen, and Terry Riley. Just like these composers, Cage too decided to explore classical music and take a different approach to it.

Difference between other artists

Cage was well known for his 1952 composition 4’33” which involved the performance without a single note being played. The purpose of 4’33” is to hear the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is played. In 1952, David Tudor performed this piece, which involved him sitting in front of a piano for four minutes and 33 seconds doing absolutely nothing. This piece later became one of the most controversial compositions of the twentieth century. Furthermore, he was also known for his creation of the “prepared piano”. This pianos sound was altered by placing various objects in the strings. He wrote numerous dance – related works and a few concert pieces.

Biography

Originally named Laura Phillips Anderson, was born on June 5^th, 1947 in Glen Ellyn, Illinois. She’s an American experimental performance artist and musician. She plays the violin and keyboard and sings in numerous experimental music and art rock styles. However, Laura originally trained as a sculptor and did her first performance – art piece in the late 1960s. During 1981, Laura became widely known for her single “O Superman” which reached number two on the UK pop charts. Furthermore, she directed and starred in the 1986 concert film “Home of the Brave”.

Influences

A lot of Laura’s work displays memories of her loved ones, or work from previous singers/musicians. However, one of her influences was Nico, a European model and an all-around rock enthusiast. Another influence to her was Yoko Ono, who was a Japanese college drop – out that was involved with conceptual art pieces. Furthermore, a few years ago, Laura did a piece which recalled the death of her beloved father.

Description of their work

“Mystery, melodrama, and humor … central qualities of Anderson’s art”, was how Ken Johnson of the New York Times described Anderson’s work. Sarah Kenton wrote “the accumulation of words and images is intoxicating” in Time Out of Anderson’s exhibition, “you absorb the message without realizing that it is full of profundities disguised as humorous asides.” Anderson believes her work displays escapism, in which a body wanders off to be somewhere else. She defines escapism as, “imagining a body to be somewhere else. Music reminds you about your body, but it also takes you out of it. All art is a form of escape, but music is in particular.”

Similarity between other artists

One of the biggest similarities between Laura and other artists is that, they all express their emotions and thoughts hoping for their audience to find familiarity. Before a show, Anderson would light the audience so she can get a clear view of their expressions. Similarly, every artist desires to see the impact of their work on a person. Furthermore, her work resembles the political and social criticism of everyday life and a few on her personal life experiences. Every artist has a central theme that they reflect on their work. Majority of the artists central theme revolves around their surroundings and just like them, Anderson too does the same.

Difference between other artists

All of Anderson’s musical instruments are self – designed which is equipped with the state – of – the – art electronic technology through the use of Vocoders to transform her voice. Furthermore, as many other artists express themselves through songs, Anderson does her live performance shows through spoken stories accompanied by self – designed musical instruments which merges sounds, conventional and electronic instruments, as well as light show, costumes, and film or photographic images.

(I’m sorry I had this, but I couldn’t find it. It turned out Humayra had mine since we were working on it together at the gallery.)

On the Subway: In my journal

In the Gallery:

Read some of David Daniel’s pieces aloud (Completed)

Can you see a relationship between the content of the text and the shape?

As I mentioned to Ms. Perrish at the exhibit, there seems to be a very clear relationship of the text and the shape. That is, to me. A majority of David’s pieces revolved around the central theme of sex. Sex can be interpreted in many ways. Sex can be seen as love. It can be seen as an activity. But throughout his pieces, the shape of the text was put in a very erotic way. Before reading, you had an idea as to what this text would be about by just looking at the shape.

Record the name of a band from Craig Leonard’s DNA project.

There were several names on the Craig Leonard’s DNA project, but the one that my eyes seem to catch was the Phantom Band. I think perhaps it was because the name was so peculiar. But then again…all the bands listed on the DNA project were named strangely.

How is the framing of these pieces in a gallery inviting you to see them differently?

I think since majority of the pieces in the gallery were mainly from the street, it made us wonder as to why an art gallery would have such pieces. There inviting us to explore the gallery to analyze each piece carefully and understand its hidden meaning. As I mentioned previously, these pieces are found from the street, and I’m sure we have encountered such art on the street, but overlooked it as if it was trash. But being placed in the gallery changed our view and made us curious.

Record an idea or art movement or artist or writer or writing idea you would like to investigate.

Throughout the whole trip, I witnessed many unusual works in the gallery. However, from the many pieces that caught my attention, one piece that had me thinking was the piece on George W. Bush. The topic on George Bush is very controversial. Many people have different views about him as a person, leader, and as an American. That’s when I began thinking about David Daniel’s opinion regarding George Bush. What does he think of George Bush? Therefore, I’m interested in investigating David’s opinion on former U.S president George Bush.

This…is…so…cool

Many people enjoy getting dressed up, even some guys. I find it hard. Well now I do. I like to dress in comfortable clothes. Attire such as: shorts and a tee. Even jeans aren’t so bad. But just for this assignment, I thought I’d dress up…formally. I decided to wear my suit. As you can see, I don’t seem so happy! I don’t know why I feel so uncomfortable. I’m sitting here wearing this, and it feels so weird. The worst part about wearing such clothes is the fact that when you lift your hand, the dress shirt gets loose. Dear god, how annoying. Oh, but I understand girls like guys in such attire. I know mine does. Have to deal with it. Ah, I think I may have outgrown my coat. I feel like a goof. And I’m going into business. Son of a…don’t people wear such clothes all the time? Hmm, I just noticed something. I’ve been talking negatively this whole time. WOW. So the way a person dresses can reflect their writing. That is cool. Ha-ha. Now I get the point of this activity. This is so genius!!

March Break Activities

Well since March break is coming to an end, I thought I’d post all the books/movies I’ve read/watched. Some of the movies may not have been so appealing since I’m a guy and tend to have a totally different preferred genre. So the movies I watched throughout the March break are as follows:

Saw V (2008)
Taken (2008)
Wanted (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
The Dark Knight (2008)

I feel sorry for my dad because I’m sure I went way over the download bandwidth. I lived on these movies this whole break. Won’t even lie it was cool. Sleep the whole day. Wake up at night and then watch. Now, as for my book, even though I don’t really read books, this book has been SO interesting. It’s called “The Catcher In The Rye” by J.D. Salinger. After finishing each chapter, I’d say to myself okay this is the last one, but by the end of each chapter, I’d be so engrossed in the story line that I’d want to know what happens later on. This cycle continued on and on, and here I am writing this.

Observing My Surroundings

So I’m sitting here on my seat which needs to be replaced because the seats getting torn! I can feel the metal piercing towards my back when I lean backwards. I should stay offline when working. People keep messaging and sometimes it can get annoying. I feel sorry for my small brother. He’s sleeping with the lights on because of me. I should really work in the living room. Poor kid keeps waking up every 5 minutes because he’s also hot. I should turn the fan on but I know he’s going to get a cold cause of it. He has a really sensitive immune system. At this moment I can’t really talk about stuff that’s going on because honestly, nothing’s going on besides a flashing orange light from someone’s conversation. I just recently finished my English essay. Okay so I hope Mr. Garriga won’t mind that my essay is fairly long. I think other’s will also have around 1100 words. I don’t want to bore anyone by making this longer so I’ll say my adieu.

Laser Printers – Bad for your health!

Okay, so I was on Yahoo, and I noticed one of the news headlines said something regarding Laser Printers and it being harmful. I was like, what!? I’ve had a laser printer since grade 7 and I just recently bought a color laser printer. So the article said how people who work in offices are more likely to be diagnosed with some sort of disease because the laser printers emit potentially dangerous levels of toner particles. OMG, I’ve held my toner so many times! If only this report came out sooner. I think I’m going to put a hold on the printing. Ah what the hey! I don’t plan on doing that any time soon.

Between Our Legs – 5 Different Points

First Reaction: Mesmerized…like wow

Alright, so basically when the story began, I was pretty interested because we the readers didn’t know what these girls were getting ready for. I constantly wondered why these girls were getting ready, when they were talking about their hair being “thick shiny twists that hung like commas”. Then the part came where the girls said, “we liked to pretend we were not beginners”, the only thing I kept wondering at that moment was what they were pretending to be experts at (p.1)? The way these girls talked during the prologue of the story, and up till the part they said they’re not beginners, made me question if they were perhaps swingers.

Second Reaction: Wow…Shocked

This part of the story was so odd. The syntax and diction felt so strong because it was able to create mental images. The way the girls said, “We licked our lips. Our lipstick stayed on” was very powerful because it tells the readers the kind of females they are. A simple sentence like that was enough to assure me that they weren’t decent. But when the girls told us, “[…] we frenched. Our lipstick stayed on”, I was just like wow…who, what, where, when, why? I’m kind of slow in these things so it took me a while to understand that the girls kissed each other. When I realized it, I was like shocked. I wasn’t expecting that so soon. The story had just begun and already this? I was just imagining how far this story would go in this manner.

Third Reaction: Confused…very confused

Okay so the part when one of the girls said, “we were dusted in flecks of gold glitter”, was very confusing because at this point, I was beginning to judge their age. Since the author hasn’t revealed the age of these female characters thus far, it was hard for me to believe if whether them covering themselves with gold glitter was normal. If they were young girls, perhaps in their teen years, it would have been alright since that’s a very rebellious stage. But if they were young mature women, it would have been quite weird; unless they were part of some show or party. But it didn’t end there, shows and parties are alright, but is it necessary to wear dresses that were mini? This kind of made me believe that they were young girls. Hey, if you can French kiss your own sex, you can do anything!

Fourth Reaction: Disgusted, simply disgusted.

While reading, I came upon the line, “There was no underwear in the box. Sisco didn’t wear underwear”. By God I was so disturbed. I couldn’t figure out if Sisco was a male or a female. I don’t know how a person can’t wear underwear. It feels so strange without it. Even boxer shorts or something are good enough. But wearing nothing inside is just weird. I can’t go a minute even at home without feeling conscious. But so far, the characters introduced to us have some peculiar behavior so I guess this shouldn’t bother me. I should be used to it by now.

Fifth Reaction: Humorous…finally

So one of the few last reactions I had was at the part when the girls were acting like they belonged.

“We smoked cigarettes because we had some. We put our hands on our hips. We said ‘fuck,’ a lot. We tried to look bored. Bored silly. We tried to look like we belonged on the block. Like without us, the block was just a block. Just bricks. Just sticks. Just bricks and sticks and stones.”

I chuckled when I read that because it really seemed like they were some immature young girls. It made me think of those people that just seek attention. And that’s what I thought of these girls. Doing what was needed to belong.