ISTD | White Noise | 4′33″

For the ISTD awards this year I chose the brief 4′33″ (4 Minutes 33 Seconds) composed by John Cage.  4′33″ is an inspiring three-movement composition. The piece is a silent piece, which consists of three movements. The idea was that although the piece was silent, you can in fact never be silent; no matter how hard we try. We are always breathing, moving and there is always background noise. The piece purports to consist of the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, although it is commonly perceived as "four minutes thirty-three seconds of silence"


I saw huge potential in this brief which is exactly why I chose it. 

Research showed me that white noise can be a very uncomfortable and eerie sound, which can also involve ghostly sounds and voices. This is exactly the reason why I chose it to include in my work. The idea behind my piece is that you read the distorted text whilst listening to the white noise. 

The piece has an extract of Don Delillo’s ‘White Noise’. The extract is of a man talking about great men who have died and how they probably did not fear death. The man and his wife then go on to argue about who should die first because they love each other so much neither of them could live without one another.

When listening to the 4 Minutes 33 Seconds whilst reading the distorted text, your mind is open to interpretation of you what you hear and read. Therefore, when each individual reads and listens, each experience will be different and unique.

All this type was produced using my typewriter featured here.