Originally published: https://www.constellationsaudio.com/sounds/quietcontemplations
About the piece:
I have been really inspired by Ad Reinhardt’s ‘Abstract Painting’ from 1963 which depicts nine very subtle shades of black. At first glance, the viewer sees a flat black canvas. Over time, the viewer notices the subtle tone differences – one is more red, another blue, one slightly green. The viewer wonders: which is the true black?
That concept has resonated with me when I contemplate the subtleties in silence. I don’t think we can ever experience true silence – we can only ever get close to it. Even if I were in an anechoic chamber I’d still hear the sound of my heartbeat and my body moving. And it poses an even greater impossibility to broadcast or podcast silence. Yet we still know quiet when we hear it, in the same way that we know a colour is black when we see it. The relativity of quiet in relation to noise intrigued me and I wanted to explore this idea in sounds I collected while exploring.
Over this past summer, I backpacked around Canada, traveling by bus, train, plane and foot from East Coast to West. Along the way I spent a lot of time being quiet and listening to the sounds around me. This piece is a scrapbook of those quiet moments, and through the juxtaposition the listener can hear the subtleties of quiet.
Inspiring Ayesha in the world of sound:
The drone and noise art community in Peterborough continues to thrill and inspire me. Artists like B.P. Hughes challenge the idea of attractive art and attractive performance with harsh and aggressive noise. His work and the artists he curates has helped me think about noise and silence.
And outside of it:
Haruki Murakami’s writing inspires a lot of my ambient sound work. I love the feeling in his books of the world washing over the main characters, in some ways I have similar experiences when I go out and record the natural sounds around me.
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