So, for today (or yesterday, now) there were two things that stood out to me from class….
When I explained my totem (which were my old headphones that I posted about last post), Beth mentioned active listening over passive listening…something that I appreciate very much…and try to do as much as I can. What’s hard is that, especially with my busyness recently, it becomes background music where I hear the beat as opposed to listening to what the songs about and being convicted by the artist.
Then, there was the famous John Cage piece that we listened to…which is basically an orchestra that plays nothing, remaining silent for 4 minutes and 33 seconds (or was it 55 seconds?).
I wasn’t so much bothered by the silence as I was the fact that it was considered music. Silence is not music. Now, silence can be used in music to create dramatic effect. But, silence is NOT music. Silence is in a league all by itself. Music is a compilation of different tastes, rythms, beats, (sometimes) lyrics, stories, and art, making it more then just background noise (which, unfortunately, so many people use it as…) Silence is just that…background noise…
You can’t make something out of nothing….You can, however, place something (music) into nothing (silence) so that you can mold it into something else (better music)….
As for the homework assignment (a.k.a. breaking the rules of an objects use), I think I’ll try something that I found interesting. While in class, I would put the headphones on for no reason at all, like they were an accessory. Whenever people put headphones on in our society it’s either to listen to something or block out noise…since these headphones do neither, it’s only other function could be an accessory (like Jewelry or a wrist band)….
So, for this next week…I shall experiment by wearing the headphones on my head, whenever and wherever as I observe reactions from being in different places and how different people perceive me because of it…
This shall be fun indeed….
