'four approaches to quietude'
jez riley french
location: bruxelles
these four simple recordings represent moments of stillness. to sit quietly in an environment is something both enjoyable and necessary for me. it is such a waste to not be aware of ones surroundings and to adjust oneself to them in order to be on equal terms. each piece presented here is a record of a situation where I was sitting silently listening –each is also a record of the stillness of the location. stillness
always finds a way to exist. In this sense ‘stillness’ becomes quietude –a sense of something rather than an absolute vacuum of action or sound for instance.
nb: due to some of the low frequencies recorded, this piece might not be fully audible through some computer speakers. in this case listening via headphones is the better option.
one: apartment
if we uncover and enjoy the simple sounds that exist in the places we spend much of our time it improves our daily lives.
Here the recording captures, by accident, the sound of plastic carrier bags moving through the corridors, blown by the breeze coming in through the open windows.
So here we have a stillness being re-established.
two: street
always hunt for bookshops when I visit a city, not to record the sound of them but to look for something interesting to read. It is perhaps
important to state that I recorded in this one not because of some pre-determined decision but because of the particular ambience of the architectural spaces.
We can hear too the sound of several young people attempting to be quiet. This might not sound like a remarkable event,
but it is becoming rarer to find people who lower their voices in these situations.
three: bookshop
I always hunt for bookshops when I visit a city, not to record the sound of them but to look for something interesting to read. It is perhaps
important to state that I recorded in this one not because of some pre-determined decision but because of the particular ambience of the architectural spaces.
We can hear too the sound of several young people attempting to be quiet. This might not sound like a remarkable event,
but it is becoming rarer to find people who lower their voices in these situations.
four: church
whether one is religious or not, there is a always a sense of quietude in church spaces. It is also the case however that as their prime function becomes to fit into our lives (rather than we who are to fit into the church) visitors are no longer as willing to alter their general behaviour upon entering. After I had been recording for several minutes a group of children arrived & we can hear their attempts at quietness –we hear their struggle between their everyday life & this now separated environment.
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