Jonathon Keats
my Cage [Silence for Cellphone]
Conceptual ring tone for mobile phone, digital files (mp3, Word doc, and web links), 4:33 min., 2007 Courtesy of the artist and Modernism Gallery, San Francisco
--> Download ring tone (mp3, 1,4 MB)
Conceptual artist Jonathon Keats has digitally generated a span of si- lence, four minutes and thirty-three seconds in length, portable enough to be carried on a cellphone. His silent ringtone, freely distributed through special arrangement with Start Mobile, is expected to bring quiet to the lives of millions of cellphone users, as well as those close to them. ›When major artists such as 50 Cent... started making ringtones, I realized that anything was possible in this new medium,‹ says Mr. Keats. ›I also knew that another artist, John Cage, had formerly tried, and failed, to create a silent interlude.‹
My Cage (Silence for Cellphone) dispenses with per- former and piano and auditorium, instead utilizing a continuous stream of silence produced on a computer, and compressed to standard ring- tone format. This silence can be heard whenever a call comes through, whether out on the street, at a noisy concert, or in the quiet of home.
A remastering of Mr. Cage's classic, My Cage is also a remix, according to Mr. Keats. ›It introduces serendipity into the equation, delivering performances unpredictably, whenever calls come unexpectedly. You never know.‹
My Cage (Silence for Cellphone) is part of the exhibition SOUNDS LIKE SILENCE (25.08.2012 - 06.01.2013).
my Cage [Silence for Cellphone]
Conceptual ring tone for mobile phone, digital files (mp3, Word doc, and web links), 4:33 min., 2007 Courtesy of the artist and Modernism Gallery, San Francisco
--> Download ring tone (mp3, 1,4 MB)
Conceptual artist Jonathon Keats has digitally generated a span of si- lence, four minutes and thirty-three seconds in length, portable enough to be carried on a cellphone. His silent ringtone, freely distributed through special arrangement with Start Mobile, is expected to bring quiet to the lives of millions of cellphone users, as well as those close to them. ›When major artists such as 50 Cent... started making ringtones, I realized that anything was possible in this new medium,‹ says Mr. Keats. ›I also knew that another artist, John Cage, had formerly tried, and failed, to create a silent interlude.‹
My Cage (Silence for Cellphone) dispenses with per- former and piano and auditorium, instead utilizing a continuous stream of silence produced on a computer, and compressed to standard ring- tone format. This silence can be heard whenever a call comes through, whether out on the street, at a noisy concert, or in the quiet of home.
A remastering of Mr. Cage's classic, My Cage is also a remix, according to Mr. Keats. ›It introduces serendipity into the equation, delivering performances unpredictably, whenever calls come unexpectedly. You never know.‹
My Cage (Silence for Cellphone) is part of the exhibition SOUNDS LIKE SILENCE (25.08.2012 - 06.01.2013).