John Cage wrote a piece of "music" in 1952 called "4 minutes and 33 Seconds" which consists of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence (technically it is a rest that's performed)
Critics have responded with comments like, "This particular piece of art isn't to be measured as a work of art, but as a reflection on aesthetics. Being that said, I'd be willing to give this piece of shit a 2/10 for not even trying, but on the other hand, the philosophical background of it makes it for a 10/10". Or at its first public performance, "Good people of Woodstock, let's drive these people out of town." And even the New York Times called it “hollow, sham, pretentious Greenwich Village exhibitionism.”
But each time the piece is performed it is different. The soundscape it exists in - from the shape of the room, the clothing of the people, the temperature and humidity of the air - impacts the quality of the sound (or it's absence).
In your life, in your work, in your relationships; how do the absences speak to you? How do the silences shift your thinking?
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