As i wrote this quote down, i had a feeling that it was for us. So when we first came in this class, we had the same ideas of what infinity was: endless, boundless, uncountable, incomprehensible, etc (the attribute list). As we learned more about the views and the sizes of infinity, about how to use one-to-one correspondences and the power sets to discover it, about philosophical problems with infinity, our "doors of perception" seem more opened.
After we got our first papers back and were assigned to be responsible for the final paper, professor Hamman explained some of the reading Escher on Escher. Next, he questioned if anybody ever related infinity with music. Some said yes and some said no. Then an argument came up between the answer: Is silence a sound? Again, some said yes some said no. Somebody on the Yes side basically mentioned that we see color because our mind can detect the wave radiation from light. If there's no light, the color is black. So black is a color. Using the same argument, we may say that the lack of sound (silence) is still perceived as a sound. But people one the No side argued that silence is independent. It is not created by anybody/anything so it's not a sound.
Then, we discussed how different it is when there's sound under water. The really high pitch of the whale was an example. We also talked about how fun and weird it is when we can make bubbles if we try to talk/breathe under water. After that, somehow, we ended up with what Escher said: "Infinity cannot be portrayed by sound."
Professor introduced us to the works of Ivars Peterson, a mathematician and computer writer.
Triune Twists, at Philadelphia's City Hall
Fragment of Infinity, Designed by Ivars Peterson using the Sculpture Generator
Old Recycle Symbol, designed by Ivars Peterson
Petersons uses the power of math and computer to do all the work. Amazing. So from now on, we may want to notice all things that depict infinity wherever we go (sculptures, mobius strips, mirror, etc).
PS: I tried to remember what we argued about "Sound is silence?" I remember Catherine believed that black is not a color and i came to contradiction myself because i said black is a color. Please correct me if i'm wrong :P
ReplyDeleteI am not sure, but I thought Catherine said black IS a color. I think blank and white are colors and I also believe that silence is a sound. I also believe that sound is infinite.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tracy, I think Catherine said that black is a color. What she argued about was that white is an absence of color, yet we say it's a color. In addition, we said that silence is the absence of sound, thus it can also be a sound. She was just trying to prove that silence is a sound..if I remembered correctly.
ReplyDeleteI believe black is a color and white is thought of a color because we can compare its "whiteness" to other colors. But, technically it is not a color. Silence i don't believe is a sound because as i mentioned, it is independent of us. I believe silence is infinite because it can be found all around in space. The absence of sound fills the blackness of space. Silence cannot be a sound because it is "nothing." Silence is the absence of something projecting noise.
ReplyDeletePlease check your myMC email for my post...
ReplyDeleteJulian I totally agree! Our doors of perception have opened so much since we started this class, and they continue to do because of everything we've learned.
ReplyDeleteCatherine, in response to your post:
" Using the analogy of white light being all of the colors together, logically silence would be all of the sounds together. Since sound waves can cancel each other out to “produce” silence…I ask everyone: does this work?"
I see your logic here and think you make a valid point. From a scientific perspective I wouldn't know but It certainly makes sense to me.
Do you remember when Professor Hamman shared how he saw John Cage in concert who played a silent piece on the piano? He literally came out on stage, sat in front of the piano, and performed without a single note being played. The content of the composition is meant to be perceived as the sounds of the environment that the listeners hear while it is performed, rather than merely as four minutes and 33 seconds of silence
Here is the video if you want to 'hear' it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HypmW4Yd7SY
Also , here is an extensive article on John Cage's views on sound and silence if you are curious. He has some noteworthy points to make that are interesting and and valuable.
"Silence can be understood in two ways. On one hand, there is audible silence, a silence that stays within the order of the audible; it remains constitutively hearable. This category contains what Cage calls 'unintended sounds'. ('Silence means the whole lot of sound; it is all of the sounds we don't intend'.) It also includes sounds that are almost impossible to perceive either because the source is too far away, or because their frequency is extremely high or low. A few examples. In 1976, Cage composed Branches, which makes use of amplified plant materials. Cage was interested in sounds from nature and had found that the spines of cacti, when touched and amplified, reverberate. Recent radiographic studies show that the universe is filled with a cacophony of sounds originating from sudden changes in the atomic structure of exploding gases.Photo-acoustic spectroscopy has enabled us to hear the sound of a rose when the blossom springs from the bud; it sounds like the drone of an organ.
According to Cage, silence is all the sounds that we do not intend. Silence means the entire range of sound. 'There is no such thing as absolute silence."
And check this out! Didn't we talk about the representations of infinity using wire sculptures by Richard Lippold and glass houses by Mies Van der Rohe? Well Cage compares his music to both of them.
"Through Lippold's network of wires one can see other things or people. These works revealed to Cage that there is no empty space, similar to the way he experiences the impossibility of empty time in his own works. There is always something to see; there is always something to hear. Even if we would so desire, we still would not be able to establish silence. Until we die there will be sounds
He wanted his audience to hear the music that consists of all the accidental sounds in the room whether or not humans produce them. Not the most entertaining music to listen to but after reading more about him and his beliefs on sound, perhaps you can appreciate his artistic sensibility.
whoops. here is the link to the article on John Cage and his views on silence.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.cobussen.com/proefschrift/300_john_cage/317_cage_and_noise/317b_music_noise_silence_sound/music_noise_silence_sound.htm
he should go to space. he'll find ultimate silence there while living.
ReplyDeleteI tried to listen to it. But i didn't here anything.
ReplyDelete