Sshhh : the commodification of silence

Cookney, DJ

Abstract

This chapter documents a process undertaken by the author in summer 2010. Submitted as part of the University of Salford’s MA Communication Design programme, the study resulted in a practice-based outcome – a compact disc of audio recordings housed within an illustrated book – that aimed to capitalize on a grey area located somewhere between noise and silence.
The Cagean fascination with background noise was key to this exploration, given how it has largely been derived through its ability to communicate while avoiding some contrived message aimed directly at the receiver. Unlike music, the random chatter and clatter of life in motion refuted the composer’s creative agenda with any unclaimed aural turbulence being an approximation of Barthes’ ‘death of the author’. However, that accompanying birth of
the listener was only really facilitated when an individual chose actively to meditate on these supposedly low-impact sounds.

Citation

Cookney, D. (2010, July). Sshhh : the commodification of silence. Presented at Bigger than Words, Wider than Pictures: Noise, Affect, Politics Conference, University of Salford

• Presentation Conference Type: Other
• Conference Name: Bigger than Words, Wider than Pictures: Noise, Affect, Politics Conference
• Conference Location: University of Salford
• Start Date: Jul 1, 2010
• End Date: Jul 3, 2010
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2010
• Deposit Date: Mar 28, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Mar 28, 2019
• Additional Information: Event Type : Conference