Nitzer Ebb performs John Cage's seminal "4'33"

Here's a video of seminal British EBM band Nitzer Ebb performing John Cage's iconic conceptual art opus "4'33". The guys are doing their best with this classic piece. They give their all.

Among other things, this means I have a reason to talk about 4'33 and the trick it manages to pull off.

4'33 is one of those compositions that can't be really ruined. You can't do it wrong by design due to its inherent ambiguity. It works any way you turn it. Sideways, upside down, inside out, backwards - it persists and prospers. Even if you try hard to do mess it up - you will still get an interesting result. That's a testament of John Cage's ability to engage performers and listeners.

On the surface, the composition consists of the musician performing nothing, just sitting around not playing an instrument for a couple of movements.

Some interpret the composition as being silent. But it's not really correct. The thing is - the performance doesn't occur in the vacuum. There is a lot of stuff going on around the place. These things get into the spotlight due to lack of action in the foreground.

Unfortunately, the silence of the composition is perceived as a pretentious gimmick and it completely overshadowed an original intent of the piece.

On the other hand, 4'33 is the composition one needs to endure. And its not an easy thing to do. It is really hard to comprehend negative space, especially when it is superimposed in such manner. The situation generates mildly tickling cognitive dissonance that wreak havoc in the padded cell of the mind.

You get all sorts of thoughts passing through, you start to notice little things. Listening or performing 4'33 is really an eventful experience that is different each time. What is even more fascinating is to reminisce on the listening to 4'33. In this case you get even more zany experience as things blend and bleed through into something completely different.