At the Rubin Museum of Art, I was able to experience the exhibition The World Is Sound. This exhibition combines sound art and Tibetan Buddhist ritual music, and explores different dimensions of sound and listening and its many functions in Tibetan Buddhism. This exhibit was set up over a couple different floors of the Rubin. Some of the experiences include listening to chants, instruments, and mantras of Buddhism. One of the rooms was called Collective Om, an immersive sound installation in which the voices of thousands of visitors were recorded chanting the sound of “om” and put all together to form a collective chant. I found this to be extremely meditative, comforting, and so powerful considering how many voices and tones I was hearing. After spending a few minutes in this room, I found my way into Deep Listening. I learned that “Deep Listening” is said to improve your sonic awareness and inspire creativity, connect you to your environment, enhance openness and compassion, and expand your overall consciousness to bring about new perspectives, perceptions, and ways of living. To try this myself, I found a seat in the Deep Listening room, equipped with foam walls to enhance all the sounds in the room, and completed the first guided meditation. This experience was truly relaxing and revitalizing for me. To be honest, I wasn’t really expecting to feel any different after this, but I was completely wrong. I am so glad that I was able to have the opportunity to be exposed to deep listening. I will be able to use this technique in my everyday life as a stress reliever and a way relax after a busy day. I feel that it is extremely important to take time out of every day and just become aware; aware of your feelings, thoughts, physical body, and surroundings. School and homework has the tendency to cause me a lot of unnecessary stress sometimes, and I really think I have found the perfect way to relieve myself of this.
The World is Sound- Elyza Craft
