Is there such thing as silence? Think back to Anzac day where millions of people in Australia and around the world stand in a minutes silence, commemorating the fallen soldiers in the world war. Although no one talks, tension grows in the room, people begin fidgeting, your heart beat becomes amplified, the wind and the heavy breathing of the person next to you becomes louder and the thoughts inside your head, that were once smothered by the loud noise of the people around you, develops into deafening roar. When you think back to these moments you begin to question whether there is such thing as ‘silence’. Now imagine, 4 minutes of silence. The thought of that is excruciating enough, yet that is what audience members endured when going to John Cages performance titled, 4’33” or (Sounds like Silence).
John Cage opens this performance, silently lifting the lid of a piano. He then sits, with his hand up in a conducting like stance throughout the 4 minutes and 33 seconds, before finally lowering the piano lid, to which the piece concludes. Sounds…well…sounds like a bloody waste of money! Why would anyone want to pay to sit through a silent performance! It seems like an odd thing to suggest to anyone, however, when you take a step back from your initially reactions to a piece like this, you begin to uncover hidden ideas and the intentions of John Cage. I could research deeply into exactly what John Cages intentions were but i’m going to base the idea of this piece on my thoughts as well as what we discussed in the lectorial.
My initial thoughts stem from my first example about Anzac day. I believe the intentions of Cage were to demonstrate how ‘silence’ is a myth and there is no such thing as silence. Cages performance was more like an experiment in order to understand how people would react to the idea of ‘silence’. People become vulnerable during stillness and ‘silence’, thoughts rush through each persons head, insecurities, questions, conflict and this sense of helplessness of not knowing what to do. Cages piece exploits the feelings of individuals and asks the audience to question themselves as well as the situation they are confronted with.
Cages intention was not to deliver a riveting performance that would leave audiences feeling excited and thrilled, his piece was intended to provoke thoughts, to initiate questions inside the audience, leaving the audience asking ‘What was that all about?” The debate of whether this piece was good or bad is irrelevant because the performance wasn’t intended to criticised that way. It is a thought provoking piece, and whether you like it or hate it, the fact that questions are raised about the legitimacy of calling this a ‘performance’ means that Cage has in fact succeeded in showcasing human behaviour in its rawest and most simplistic way.
The art of simply listening is a practise that seems to be carried out by very few people in this crazy, turbulent and loud world we live in. It is something that we forget is important in our everyday lives. Silence allows us to think, it allows us to reach a clear mind as our thoughts rush to the surface. When we delve into the world of ‘silence’ we come across the idea of mediation, used by people to do just that, clear their minds and escape this often rushed society that we live. This is something that I think more people need to do and something that I am interested in exploring my self.
