| Listening to the mind at play | ||
|---|---|---|
| Contextual map | Visual reference | Generative process |
| Artists A - Z | Artwork A - Z | Key content |
| Audience participation | Social setting | Research process |
| Title: |
| C7:: continuum |
| Artist(s): |
| Ryoji Ikeda |
| Brief description of the work: |
| Electronic music composition that uses a pulsating heartbeat as its core and overlays and repeats this sound with electronically altered variations of itself. |
| Materials, dimensions, duration: |
| From the album 0C (Touch, London TO:38), 1998, duration 5:25 |
| Location (venue & dates, public/ private): |
| Album commercially available |
| Audience information (size, mode of participation): |
| Ryoji Ikeda's audience includes professionals and amateurs interested in electro-acoustic music. |
| Other information (reviews, collaborators, funders): |
| The track was included (CD 2 track 7) on 'Haunted Weather: Music, Silence and Memory', curated by David Toop. the CDs were an addition to the book. This was released in April 2004 by Staubgold (Staubgold 52, Germany, 2-CD set) |
| Floorplan, scheme: |
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| Visual/ audio-visual reference: |
 |
| Key theme(s): |
| Observing the awareness of listening, intense engagement with the body |
| Further context: |
|
Minimalistic approach to a composition that focuses the listener's attention on the sound itself.
"In Zen they say: If something is boring after two minutes, try it for four. If still boring, try it for eight, sixteen, thirty-two, and so on. Eventually one discovers that its not boring at all but very interesting. At the New School once I was substituting for Henry Cowell, teaching a class in Oriental music. I had told him I didn't know anything on the subject. He said, "That's all right. Just go where the records are. Take one out. Play it and then discuss it with the class." Well, I took out the first record. It was an LP of a Buddhist service. It began with a short microtonal chant with sliding tones, then soon settled into a single loud reiterated percussive beat. This noise continued relentlessly for about fifteen minutes with no perceptible variation. A lady got up and screamed, and then yelled "Take it off. I can't bear it any longer." I took it off. A man in the class then said angrily, "Why'd you take it off? I was just getting interested."" Cage John (1999), Silence, Lectures and Writings, Marion Boyars, London |