Piece and Quiet

Project Details

Artist:  Alex Braden
Materials: sound
Location: Westover, Cherrydale, Central, and Shirlington Libraries
Date: November-December 2014

The sounds heard in Alex Braden's Piece and Quiet were recorded around Arlington County over a period of a few days in September, 2014. They were woven together into a subtle composition that played quietly on loop, broadcast over eight speakers, each playing a unique part of the soundscape.

True quiet is a near impossible experience. Even in anechoic chambers—soundproofed spaces designed to eliminate echoes—the sound of breathing or a heartbeat can seem louder than a passing freight train. Even at the silent libraries where Piece and Quiet was played, you may start noticing softer sounds that you would not have heard elsewhere. Piece and Quiet used the anechoic merits of the library environment to gently introduce a temporary soundscape that in another environment may have gone unnoticed.