Ivica Ico Bukvic wrote:
Ivica Ico
Bukvic escribe:
Again, depends upon the context. John Cage wrote
a famous piece 4'33"
which
is four minutes and 33 seconds of silence in
three movements. How about
buying a CD of that one? Yet, its impact on the contemporary music scene
is
monumental and it is practically impossible to
find a book which
discusses
20th century music without mentioning this work.
IIRC the point of that piece was that the duration was exactly 4'33"
(wow!)
Actually, no. The points are (more or less in the order of importance)
recontextualization of silence, exploration of indeterminacy, and
relinquishing the control over the creative process (which is to some extent
an outgrowth of the second point).
The point was that Cage was too damn lazy or arrogant to create
anything, so he produced 4'33" of meaningless nothingness. The piece
reminds me of wide swathes of what passes for modern art in the painting
world, where the painting is accompanied by a densely-written, 3-5 page
explanation of the painting. Without the textual explanation, the
painting itself communicates NOTHING - no meaning, etc. (IMHO, this is a
sure sign that the work was funded by a grant.) As my artist-daughter
describes them, they're a "spot on the wall."
Of course, music without meaning is standard fare in the world of
popular commercial music ...
--
David
gnome(a)hawaii.rr.com
authenticity, honesty, community