Or how I would emphasize this title: “I have ‘Nothing’ to say and I am saying ‘It’. Wherein ‘Nothing’ is the absence of judgment on the sounds and ideas being expressed in the environments we’re surrounded by. All we have to do in order to say ‘It’ is refrain from reacting in any critical way. In other words, we can speak the language of ‘Nothing’ by being receptive to what’s already in front of us.

Creating new timbres in musical instruments seems to go against this ideology, but the exploratory aspect of this technique is what’s most important. Rather than giving us ideas found from the instrument in front of us in the conventional sense, we can explore all possibilities from the elements that make up said instrument. The piano from In the Name of the Holocaust piece wouldn’t have had the same effect if it was played traditionally, as the extra noise added increases the jarring effect of the composition. This reminds me of solo guitarists nowadays that use live loops of their playing and tap, knock, and bow their neck in order to create variations of sound to play along to in the conventional way.

The idea of two things going on at the same time, in regards to song and dance, is in a way closer to reality than intentional choreography that would never happen organically in a spur of the moment. As they said, multiple things happen at the same time in our everyday lives all the time, just because they are separate does not mean they are inherently disjointed. This reminds me of how fight scenes are displayed in movies as perfect acrobatic feats of strength, where no punch is wasted and each encounter is resolved cleanly, where in reality most brawls end in a mess of limbs tangled on the floor, with no clear distinction as to who should be in the lead.

“[Cage] felt that his own personal biases and feelings and emotions were not as interesting as what could be gotten at by other means. He wanted to imitate nature in its manner of operation.”

Breaking free from the traditional roles that we have grown to assign in our art is not an easy task if you approach it from the perspective of ‘The Composer’. Rather than being tied to the idea that art has to originate internally and from within you, your emotions and feelings, there is a more encompassing method that may free us from this baggage. Adopting the perspective of ‘The Witness’ to the same elements of design is key to shifting our methods of creating (or witnessing) art. Instead of being the only force in the deciding factors of a piece, letting the elements outside of you dictate what is and isn’t part of something may be in actuality closer to nature than us alone trying to mold it to individual will. Whether that’s letting the ambient noise be part of a recording, letting the natural character of an instrument shine without modification, or having random elements of life dictate the composition, such as a chess match, there is no such thing as a Bad Piece when all we are here to do is simply Witness It.

“The highest purpose is to have no purpose.”

Personally, as this relates to me, there is a lot of value in the aspect of randomization. In the electronic music world, randomizing parameters is so common that sometimes the line between intent and accident doesn’t exist at all. Many times, this is to introduce a sense of natural qualities to an otherwise static sound, which again highlights the random aspect found throughout nature. By imitating the chaotic reality we live in, there is more to appreciate in a digital environment. There is no inherent order to things in our lives, and because of this there can be beauty found in it. Having something completely fixed in design and character is admirable in theory, but in reality is more of a concept than an achievable feat. Nature is inherently baked into everything, and because of that, the element of surprise will always take place. If Aristotle were around to see the days of computers and computer-based art, I think the ideas in place about nature and how we simply observe it would have to face a lot more scrutiny, for better or worse!

“Our intention is to affirm this life. Not to bring order out of chaos, nor to suggest improvements in creation, but simply to wake up to the very life we’re living, which is so excellent once one gets one’s mind and one’s desires out of its way and lets it act of its own accord.”