by Morgen Jahnke

The 20th-century American composer John Cage was well known for his experimental approach to making music. His most famous composition, titled 4’33” (four minutes and 33 seconds), playfully widens the boundaries of what is considered music. The piece consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of structured silence (although it was written to be performed for any length of time), during which time listeners are drawn to discover the ambient sounds going on all around them.

This idea that music can be found in unlikely circumstances has resonated in the works of other composers who followed Cage. In a similar, but unique vein, a group known as the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra, or more simply the Vegetable Orchestra, creates music from an unlikely source: fresh vegetables.

Playing with Food
The orchestra, consisting of 11 musicians, a sound engineer, and a video artist, was first formed in 1998. Since then, the group has released two CDs and given concerts all over Europe as well as in Asia. Their work is influenced by many different styles of music, including classical, jazz, and electronic/techno music. In fact, their most recent CD, Automate, contains their versions of songs by the influential German electronic music group Kraftwerk. In a creative melding of the organic and the digital, the group recorded samples of their vegetable instrument sounds, and then assembled them to create digital compositions.

And what do vegetables sound like? Like any orchestra, the instruments of the Vegetable Orchestra produce different categories of sound based on their shape and the method of playing them. There are percussion instruments: celeriac bongos, a clapper made from an eggplant, pumpkins to be pounded upon, and dry beans that are shaken to provide rhythmic effects. There are strings (a leek violin), woodwinds (a carrot recorder), and versions of brass instruments (a trumpet made from a red pepper). Of course, the orchestra is also continually coming up with new instrumental creations, determined by their need for a specific sound or a new discovery at the market.

From the Raw To the Cooked
Unlike other orchestras, the members of the Vegetable Orchestra must remake their instruments every time they perform. In preparing for a show, the group begins at a local market, where finding the perfect specimens is crucial. Once they have procured the produce they need, they set to work crafting their instruments, improvising as needed. Because the group’s members are drawn from a variety of artistic backgrounds, including the visual arts and architecture, the making of instruments is also part of their creative work. Some instruments take very little time to prepare; others, such as the carrot recorder, can take as long as half an hour to make.

Later, during the performance, the interaction between the musicians and the vegetables continues. As some instruments tend to dry out as time goes on, they must be moistened, and some instruments may disintegrate completely. This aspect of chance adds to the improvisational quality of the orchestra’s performances, although most of their pieces are composed, not improvised. In their concerts, the orchestra aims to engage the audience’s senses fully—from the sounds they create, to the video images projected behind them on the stage, to the smell of the vegetables in the air. And finally, as an encore, the audience is invited to taste the instruments, in the form of vegetable soup available to all.

I’m Decay, You’re Decay
This full cycle from fresh produce to soup also addresses another theme important to the orchestra, that of decay. In this sense, it reminds me of the work of Andy Goldsworthy, who creates art out of objects found in nature. Once he has created a work, Goldsworthy photographs it, but then lets it degrade as it will. Working with an ephemeral medium, be it vegetables or icicles, is itself an artistic statement, in that it favors the process of creation over the finished product. What is left is the memory of a moment in time that can be savored like a warm bowl of vegetable soup. —Morgen Jahnke

Want podcasts of every article? Support ITotD by becoming a paid subscriber.

Permalink • Email this Article • Categories: Clever Ideas, Decay, Music & Sound

 You can’t put a price on enlightenment. Support Interesting Thing of the Day today. [?]

More Information about The Vienna Vegetable Orchestra...

Get a free recipe every day plus kitchen tips and other useful information for food aficionados at Worldwide Recipes.

To learn more about the history of the group and to find upcoming show information, visit their official site. Particularly fascinating is this YouTube clip. of one of their performances.

A mention of the orchestra’s thoughts on decay can be found on the BBC Web site.

Biographical information for the composer John Cage can be found on the Classical Music Pages, the New Albion Records Web site, and the Wikipedia.

Related Articles from Interesting Thing of the Day

• The Theremin
• Audium
• The Skin Project
• Throat Singers
• Anopsology

℗ & © 2007, alt concepts. All rights reserved.

Every time I mention to someone that I spent three years living in Vancouver, British Columbia, I get the same response. “Oh, I’ve heard Vancouver is such a beautiful city. I’d love to visit there some time.” Dozens of people have said the same thing to me, almost as if reciting a line from an advertising campaign. And it’s true: Vancouver is a beautiful city—whether you’re talking about the mountains, forests, and ocean or the glistening modern skyline of glass skyscrapers. There’s a reason so many films and TV shows are shot on location in and around Vancouver. If it’s scenery you want, this is the place. Vancouver, like any other large Canadian city, also has plenty of cultural depth—an excellent symphony orchestra, live theater, cinema, folk music, improv comedy, professional sports, and museums of every kind. There are major universities, large industries, and rich natural resources, not to mention a vibrant multi-ethnic population. In short, no one needs an excuse to visit Vancouver. There are so many things to do and see there that it’s a compelling tourist destination; undoubtedly this figured in the city’s successful bid to host the 2010 winter Olympics.

The Draw of the Bridge
Having said that, I was shocked and baffled to learn that the most popular tourist attraction in the city—nay, in the entire province—is a footbridge. Incredible but true: each year over 800,000 people pay to walk across the Capilano Suspension Bridge. Now it is indeed quite a nice bridge, as suspension footbridges go. Strung high above the scenic Capilano River, it offers a lovely view. And it’s an impressive feat of engineering too (about which more in a moment). But of all the things that might attract a visitor to the southwestern corner of mainland British Columbia, the enormous appeal of this bridge has always seemed quite strange to me.

The current Capilano Suspension Bridge is actually the third such structure at this location. The first bridge, made of hemp rope and cedar planks, was installed in 1888 by land developer George Grant Mackay, who had purchased acreage on both sides of the river and needed a convenient way to get to and from his cabin. In 1903, the bridge was replaced with a wire cable bridge, which was then reinforced significantly in 1914. The current bridge was installed in 1956, with the heavy cables encased in 13 tons of concrete on each end. Over the course of the 20th century, ownership of the property changed hands several times, but it has always been more of a tourist attraction than a means of getting from place to place. The surrounding area has been developed as a park, with a restaurant, gift shop, and a collection of native totem poles to give it character. But you walk across the bridge solely for the experience of doing so; the only things you’ll find on the far side are some short hiking trails, a pond, an observation point, and some information on the local flora and fauna.

Weights and Measures
The Capilano Suspension Bridge is 450 feet (137m) long and 230 feet (70m) above the canyon floor. Because it hangs freely between the supports on either end, it sways and bounces as you walk across it. This gives the illusion that it’s risky, but the bridge has been designed for complete safety. The most impressive feature of the bridge is visible only on paper: its incredible capacity.

How much weight can the bridge support? Apparently the number of pounds (or kilograms) is so high that a new unit of measurement had to be invented to express it: the airplane. Depending on which literature you read, the bridge can support the weight of fifty 747s or ten “heavy-duty military fighter planes,” each of which, presumably, is five times the weight of a 747—depending on the exchange rate, of course, and whether the plane is actually in flight. These statistics are intended to reassure tourists that the bridge can definitely hold as many people as can fit on it at any given time and that they, their children, and their video cameras are perfectly safe. Personally, I’d find the statement more meaningful if it said something like “can support the weight of the entire population of the city of Burnaby”—which, if my math is correct, is true. That’s 200,000 people, more or less.

I’m tempted to say that the Capilano Suspension Bridge is a textbook example of overengineering, like using a rivet where a paperclip would do. But whether its great strength is excessive or not, its marketing program certainly is. I’ve been to the bridge several times, because it’s one of those things you just have to take friends and relatives to when they visit from out of town. And the reactions are predictable: “Wow, this is cool,” followed shortly thereafter by, “Is this all there is? I paid for this?” And I can’t help keep thinking of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, which is many times more impressive and doesn’t even come close to being the city’s top tourist attraction, never mind the state’s.

As a couple of Vancouverites pointed out to me, there’s another similar bridge not far away, called the Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge. In addition to being free, and, I’m told, “just as nice as the Capilano bridge,” the Lynn Canyon bridge leads to some of the best walking trails in the area. But then, the real reason people visit the Capilano Suspension Bridge is to find out what all the fuss is about. And that is exactly what I find so interesting about it: the bridge to nowhere has become, for its owners, the path to fortune. —Joe Kissell

Want podcasts of every article? Support ITotD by becoming a paid subscriber.

Permalink • Email this Article • Category: Interesting Places

 Interesting things take time and money. Support this site! [?]

More Information about The Capilano Suspension Bridge...

The official Capilano Suspension Bridge home page has information on hours, rates, history, and just about anything else you may want to know.

Subscribe with an RSS reader Older News Archive Add news to your web site