Tuesday, July 6, 2004

Must. . . go . . . slower. . . Apropos of the speed of life in Silicon Valley, here's a reminder of how slow it is possible to go: As Slow As Possible. The sound of an E and E-sharp rang out of an abandoned German church yesterday. They were the latest organ notes in a musical piece that will take another 636 years to finish playing. Avant-garde composer John Cage (1912-1992) composed Organ2/ASLSP in 1985. The title comes from the tempo Cage had in mind when the work would be played: "as slow as possible." This performance at St. Burchardi Church in Halberstadt began September 5, 2001, but until last February the only sound was the building's natural ambience. Since then, a total of five notes have been played. . .  Link (to NPR site) Link (to AP article from yesterday) [Boing Boing] Reminds me of the Clock of the Long Now, and Brian Eno's marvelous January 07003: Bell Studies for The Clock of The Long Now.  It's one of the CDs I put on when I want to slow down and just be present right now -- and think about how long "now" can be.  If you haven't read Stewart Brand's book about the Clock, I highly recommend it; talk about getting a perspective on things. . . 10:50:20 AM    Questions? Comments? Flames? []

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