The Day the Music Died?

A poster promoting Britain's "Day without Music" this year.

November 21st, the day before Thanksgiving in the United States was Britain's Day Without Music. Bill Drummond initiated the day three years ago as an extension of his own experiment with aural fasting. Here's a link to the official site, as well as a wonderful Salon.com article about the viability of escaping the incessant drone of of manipulative music in public spaces in America and learning how to listen again. What do you think?

http://www.nomusicday.com/

http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/11/22/no_music_day/

Silent Movies

Love 'em? Hate 'em? Favorites? Why?
(FYI, the image above is from the gorgeous silent film, "The Passion of Joan of Arc". Click on the words "Silent Movies" for a wonderful database of silent cinema.)

What about the use of silence in the "modern" cinema? How about any scenes in which there is neither dialogue or music? Do you find the sound design of current popular cinema overwhelming or exciting? Why?

Hearing Aids

How has your relationship to sounds and silence changed as you have aged? Have you “heard” less or more as you’ve matured? How do you think this has affected people’s perception of you?

Youth and Silence

Below is a piece written by a young man at one of our "Conversations on Silence" held at a Public Library in Baltimore last night. If you are a young person, or interact with young people, or were at one of our library conversations, or have a piece of spoken word poetry, or have anything to say on this subject, please hit "comment" and add your voice to the dialogue.

"Free"
by Loverboy (aka., James Otis Thompson, Jr.)

I am Trapped in a cage sinking
Below the water

But I struggle to say
I can't Breathe

There are many fish in the sea
but I stand alone

But I struggle to say I
can't breathe

I've been shaped, re-placed
I've seen myself - so much I
wonder if I have the only face

i feel as though god gave me the
key and said let everyone be Free!!!

But I struggle to say
I can Breathe. . .

Free Speech?

The next question for comment: Is silence generally liberating or oppresive to you? Has this changed for you over time?

(Click on "comment" below to leave your story/thoughts.)

I Hear What You're Saying

This week's question: In what ways have you experienced communication without spoken language? What were these experiences like?

(In case you're interested, the images above are from the "typographic ballet" Body Language, in which a dancer contorts herself inside a specially-constructed spandex bag to create letters from the human form. Performed by: Amy Oldham)

Talk to Me

"In the end we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends." -Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ever struggled with the silence of a friend or lover, or been a silent partner yourself?

Visions of Silence

A lovely slideshow on the topic:
http://disembedded.wordpress.com/2007/09/23/visions-of-silence/

Anyone else have images they'd like to share?

A Moment of Silence . . .

Marcel Marceau died on Saturday. I've many thoughts on the life and work of this man whom I often imitated in my own crazed, silly way in my suburban family living room as a young girl. But my friend Lisa has written the most cogent and lovely thoughts on this extraordinary man. Check it out.

http://howsrobb.blogspot.com/2007/09/marcel-marceau.html

Hellllooooooo out there?!?!?!

It's been a little silent out there so far, so I'm casting the net wider and also giving you all a few questions to prime the pump. Answer one question, or answer them all - it doesn't matter, just hit the comment button at the end of the post and break the silence.

• Is silence liberating or oppressive to you? Has this changed over time?

• Have you ever sought silence as a place of solace, meditation, or calm?

• Have you ever been silenced by another person or by your own fears and inhibitions?

• How has your relationship to sounds and silence changed as you have aged? Have you “heard” less or more as you’ve matured? How do you think this has affected people’s perception of you?

• In what ways has another person’s silence affected you? Have you ever attempted to speak for another person who couldn’t speak for themselves? What happened?

• When do you seek silence? What does silence provide you?

• When do you avoid silence? How does silence disturb you?

• In what ways have you experienced communication without spoken language? What were these experiences like?

• Have you ever felt incapable of really being heard? Have you ever had trouble really hearing someone?

• Is there a depiction of silence in film, literature, visual art, etc., that you find particularly meaningful?

No time/inclination to record? Feel free to mail your story to gbraden@artonpurpose.org or Art on Purpose, attn: Gina Braden, P.O. Box 8200, Brooklandville, MD 21022. All styles and formats welcome!

The First Written Submission

Here is a self-proclaimed "stream of counsciousness" response from a musical colleague:

"Silence, the absence of sound makes music in the recesses of my mind. Silence makes music so much more thrilling, not knowing what is to come next, is it over or just time to catch a breath and reflect on the musical interlude the preceeded it? As I sit in my room listening to the silence (funny phrase "listening to silence") I somehow hear inside my head the music that was just made in my classroom. So am I really silent or does silence exist for me? I don't think so, except, perhaps, when deep sleep has overcomed me. I can't imagine a silent world where the sound of life has been asked to stop, for me, that would be physically painful, or, I guess, the finality of death. Is Silence really golden? Maybe for some, for me unreachable."

Question of the Day:

Does silence ever exist for you?

"

Two Interesting Links from Friends

The above image is from a fascinating website about the quietest place in the United States. Checkout www.onesquareinch.com

As an urban dweller, the white noise of transportation is always present even in the quietest of moments, which makes me consider whether I could easily get to any place free of man made noise at all. I suspect this would be a huge challenge for any of us, even those who live in close contact with the natural world. Thanks, Sten!

And this incredible image of various types of silently expressed emotion is from a performance art piece a friend saw in Edinburgh this summer. Check out the review below from the London's Guardian.


"There certainly is in Six Women Standing in Front of a White Wall at C Soco, one of those sleeper shows that is fast becoming a huge word-of-mouth hit. Some people are returning again and again, and I can see why. The production is very simple. The audience gathers in a small room. At one end is a roped-off area and white wall with signs saying, “Please touch”. Six women, dressed in red, slowly enter the room and take their places against the wall. The women writhe and start scratching themselves, reminding you of small children deprived of love and affection. The audience is actively encouraged to touch and hug the women. When you do, these women spring upwards like young saplings, appearing to blossom before your eyes. Shortly after you withdraw your hand, they begin to wilt in front of you, their mouths opening in silent screams.

It is fascinating to watch - and the audience is part of the interest. You'd think that natural British reticence would make this show a no-hoper, but in fact watching is as intriguing as actually taking part. At one point, seeing a young woman withdraw her arm from one of the red figures and hold it just out of reach - simply standing there as the red figure suffered - was so unbearable to watch that I found myself obliged to intervene in what seemed like an act of terrible cruelty.

Six Women doesn't allow you to be passive. It gives the audience a responsibility, and while some may simply dismiss it as therapy rather than theatre, this intriguing performance-installation offers another example of how all our definitions of theatre are changing. And if hugging is included, that can only be a good thing."

WRITE NOW!

Welcome! And thanks for visiting.

Your task, if you chose to accept it, is to take a bit of time to write. Write about silence. Period. The form is entirely up to you -- a monologue, your own crazed interior thoughts or rants, a short story about someone you've known who lost the ability/will to speak, an essay on having to interpret another's silence, a significant moment when you chose to remain silent, a fairy tale, allegory, poem, or song -- whatever you'd like. You may chose to write about the inability to speak, *forced* silence (by a political entity, one's own shyness, physical or mental disability, emotional gag order, social pressure), or *chosen* silence (the silence of cathedrals, the meditative rest of the mind, avoidance of the incessant talker who says nothing, etc.). Write about the glory of mimes if you'd like -- the choice is entirely yours! Lest the theme sound too dark, rest assured that all styles, from the gently comic, to the amusingly hostile, to the gloriously irreverent are welcome.

Post it here and start the conversation. Simply hit the comment button below and sign in anonymously or as a member of the blogging community and write whatever you'd like in the comment box. The box will automatically expand to fit your needs. Now, how often does life work that way? Enjoy!