Eyjafjallajoekull 4'33': A Stillness in Three Parts

摘要

This paper uses the work and musical theory of the composer John Cage as a point of departure for considering the disruption caused by the ash cloud originating at the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Mobility has been defined as a constellation of movement, representation and practice; this definition is used to structure an analysis of what Eyjafjallajoekull meant for the pace of air travel, how it unsettles common-place cultural understandings of air travel, and what it could mean for the practice of aeromobility in the future. The literature on stillness is engaged to inform a discussion of air travel, with the airport as its exemplar space, and its potential to act as a focal point for debate on the nature of contemporary citizenship.