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.

Inspiration is what I needed and inspiration is what I found when reading about Sydney Artist Abdul Abdullah. His self portraiture traces back to his roots of being Muslim in Australia. In the ongoing, heated political climate that revolves around the issues of terrorism in Australia, Abdul has been faced with the difficulty of expressing who he is. Through his photography and paintings, Abdul is able to confront key issues surrounding the Muslim community as well as the social stigma that is attached to Muslims in Western Society. His story gave me a new mindset of how I could tackle this self portrait task. Abdul draws his creativity from his background and the current issues that he faces in the often turbulent climate of the world today. Seeing how he uses his ideas and his experiences of the world to create his art, prompted me to delve into my own views and interactions with the world around me.

I may not have had as much of an involvement in the political environment of the world, nor have I been treated in the same regard as the Muslim community, however, it is this idea of drawing from ones experiences in the world to create art that captivated me. The concept a person explores could be provoked through an experience they have had, or it could be based on their views towards certain issues in the world.

Initially I was apprehensive to draw on my own experiences and views, to then showcase them in a public environment. The vulnerability that came with doing this, scared me. However, reading this article, as well as viewing Abdul’s pieces of work, gave me the confidence to express my self in a similar way.

I feel privileged to be allowed to enter the world of Abdul. His paintings give a broader perspective of the world and showcase current, controversial political ideas that are so often hidden by smoke and mirrors.

geir tønnessen via Compfight

As we enter into the new era of media, problems arise when it comes to trying to understand how media is shared and accessed in the wider community. Merrins discussion about the post-broadcast age is compared to the traditional broadcast age where media was far more streamlined through large companies. Merrin brought up 10 main points about the challenges that researchers as well as modern society faces in this growing digital age. One of the points that interested me was the idea of ephemerality, meaning, lasting a very short time. In the context of the article ephemerality was used to describe how the media produced to today is more ‘fragile’ than it was previously, both physically and socially. In a physical sense, the data that is stored on phones, hard drives, USB’s e.t.c. are highly susceptible to damage and there is a much greater chance of losing the media sources all together. In a social sense, the use and attention given to each aspect of media is very short. Merrin states that all the “messages and photos that are read, viewed, consumed, passed on, replied to, ignored, deleted, moved on from and almost immediately forgotten”, illustrating his idea of ephemerality in the modern age.

This raised questions in my head about “How do I use the media?” and “What does this mean for the future of digital media?”

The media today is very vast, volatile and sometimes dangerous. These issues may seem daunting, however they can be overcome with the right mindset and approach. Despite the problems that we face, Merrin suggests that researches as well as the general public must adapt to this change and have more awareness about the use of media in the post-broadcast age. Just like anything else in the world, ‘practise makes perfect’ and the same goes for the new age of media. Like any new experience we are cautious to explore the unknown, however, the more we search through the uncharted territories of media, the more we can learn and enrich our knowledge about the vast world we live in today.

The good, the bad, the selfie. There are positives and negatives when talking about the infamous selfie. The ‘selfie’ has shaken the world in the past few years of our life. We are bombarded by the constant images of an individuals glamorising themselves on social media through the tiny lense on their mobile phone. For me ‘selfies’ can be great to capture a quick moment with friends, family or random strangers… but thats about all I like about this idea of taking a ‘selfie’, because for the most part, ‘selfies’ are just that, taking a photo ones self! I’m not saying that all ‘selfies’ are bad, but I think that on the whole the connotations of vanity and narcissism that is associated to this term is something that has put me off from participating in this social phenomenon.

Reading the BBC article about ‘The rise of the selfie’ was interesting, to say the least, however the final remarks about how to take the perfect selfie made me question the validity of the authors main points in the article. Deep down, I really dislike the use of the word perfect. Because, what is perfect? Everyone and everything has its flaws, and even if someone considers something perfect, another individual across the room could suggest otherwise. The word perfect is subjective, however it is thrown around in the modern day as if everyone should perceive something in the same, homogenous way. To describe a ‘selfie’ as perfect, just perpetuates that idea of the growing narcissistic traits that are present in individuals throughout all cultures in modern society. The idea of having a ‘good side’ suggests that every individual has a ‘bad side’ and does that not mean that we are all imperfect, yet there I was reading about how to take the ‘perfect selfie’.

‘Selfies’ are great in some circumstances however it is this concept that we must craft the perfect image of ourselves to present to our online following that really lets this craze down for me. I believe that we shouldn’t be expected to hide our imperfections and treat them as if they are unique to only ourselves, because in reality we all have faults and that is one of the only things that should be treated as universal idea . Perhaps the world would be more comfortable if we celebrated all the flaws that embody the nuances of human life.