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In Pursuit of Quiet

2014-06-24 · letter vlog · John · 2:52 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Internet & YouTube (also: Pop culture) · mode: Personal essay · tags: on location, community lore

Stuck in an airport, John reflects through Jace Clayton's 'Quietest Place' Art Assignment that the internet has left no room for silence and that quiet feels discomforting and demands focus, then sits through a minute of quiet by gate A4 of Indianapolis International Airport.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — In an airport with a delayed flight; Jace Clayton's 'The Quietest Place' assignment on The Art Assignment

  • ★★ In a stunning turn of events, John has found himself in an airport, stuck for a couple of hours by a delayed flight and because he loves airports. (playful) — 00:00:01
  • ★★ John describes The Art Assignment as a cool PBS show about contemporary art starring his wife and, to a much lesser extent, himself. — 00:00:15 · The Art Assignment, Sarah Urist Green
  • ★★ Jace Clayton's assignment, 'The Quietest Place', asked people to walk until they found the quietest place within walking distance. — 00:00:21 · The Art Assignment

00:00:28 — No room for silence online; 2007 jump cuts unbearable; responses that talk the whole way; quietest places loud with nature; quiet is discomforting

  • ★★★ John says quiet is interesting to talk about on YouTube because attention has become so fractured online that YouTube videos have no room left for any silence. — 00:00:28 · attention economy, YouTube
  • ★★ Rewatching their 2007 videos, John finds the slow jump cuts and the three silent frames between them unbearable. (playful) — 00:00:36 · Brotherhood 2.0
  • ★★ In the many hundreds of responses to Clayton's assignment, John saw people talk the entire time while walking to their quietest places. — 00:00:50

  • ★★★ John notes people's quietest places were loud, usually with nature sounds, and thinks we don't count nature sounds as sounds but as a kind of 'loud-quiet'. (hedged) — 00:01:01

    “kind of a loud-quiet”

  • ★★★ John says that on the internet, and maybe outside it, quiet can feel discomforting: getting through even a few seconds requires a focus we are not used to summoning. (hedged) — 00:01:17

00:01:28 — The quietest place in Indianapolis International Airport, by gate A4; a minute of silence; happy VidCon sign-off

  • ★★ John finds what he judges the quietest place in Indianapolis International Airport, by gate A4, and shares a minute of silence with Hank. (hedged) — 00:01:32
  • ★★ After the minute of silence, John can hear much more than when he sat down. — 00:02:47

Humor (significant)

  • John points to the grey speckled walls behind him. — 00:00:01

    “I have found myself, in a stunning turn of events, in an airport.”

  • Walking to his own quietest place, John narrates as the noise grows, just like the responses he criticises. — 00:00:59

    “It's only getting louder; this isn't working at all.”

  • John asks who knows the quietest place in an airport. — 00:01:28

    “TSA employees on a break.”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: silence · The Quietest Place

Also: People: Sarah Urist Green

Projects: Brotherhood 2.0 · The Art Assignment · VidCon

Organizations: Transportation Security Administration · YouTube

Concepts: attention economy · jump cut

Places: Indianapolis International Airport

Only in the description or credits: Jace Clayton · PBS

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