The Silent Treatment
I love silence and I love black and white pictures (or greyscale in fact). Metaphorically speaking eliminating of colours intensifies the experience just like the elminating external noise such as tvs and people talking intensifies the sound of birds chirping and pouring rain.
We went on a family trip to Angkor Wat, Cambodia and to think of it now, when I was there I wasn't having the best time of my life because I feel architecture is such a personal experience for me and I couldn't find that release with so many people in tow who were looking for you every 2 mins constantly and abruptly destroying my experience. Even when I think of it now all I can remember is people calling me... argghh..hahahaha..
Below is a picture of this gallery space that runs along the side of a courtyard where I was able to have my personal space. Even when I think of it now I feel this moment so clearly- the sense of discovery, the freedom... the questioning mind .... this was such a release for me. For everyone else this is an unfocused, uninspiring and completely forgettable picture but for me this is what true architecture is. It gives you the ability to feel the space and experience silence. It helps you create a vocabulary using your own creative mind to interpret it's meaning without words, symbols, objects or direction. There is no judging. There is no justification. There is no appropriate reaction- you can sing, you can dance, you can scream, you can cry but your reaction for that brief moment in time is evidence that a non-living thing can speak to you just as well.
Elle Canada's Aug 2010 issue featured an article called 'The Silent Treatment' and here are a couple of quotes from it by George Prochnik who is the author of 'In Pursuit of Silence: Listening for Meaning in a World of Noise' & www.inpursuitofsilence.com
"Experiencing silence isn't just about turning the noise down. For me, it's about finding a sonic or visual space where I don't feel like I have to close myself off and I can be porous to the world. It's about maximizing perception, not minimising it."
"I found that something profound happened only in time and only in silence with the paintings. If you can get to the point where you can let your gaze go into the work, there can be a stereoscopic effect where you gradually see three-dimensional objects. Experiences of silence have their own momentum-the more you are in it, the more you see and hear."
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