Pondering Eternity (Study 1)
Before the Sound is a short visual meditation on thresholds, movement, and presence. The piece unfolds slowly, allowing space before meaning, and motion before explanation.
This piece began as an experiment in restraint. Not narrative, not spectacle. A slow unfolding of images that sit in the space before momentum, before meaning locks in, before noise takes over. I wanted the visuals to move the way a thought does when it hasn’t fully formed yet.
The music was written by me and created with Suno, then shaped visually through editing, pacing, and contrast. Rather than illustrate the song, the video runs alongside it. Images open, pause and recede. Together, they create a threshold the viewer passes through rather than a story to follow.
This project sits naturally beside my painting practice. The same questions are at work here: presence versus performance, stillness against pressure, and what remains when explanation is stripped away.
This is not a departure. It’s an extension.
Video direction & editing: John Gerstner
Music: Before the Sound – Listen on Spotify→
Written by John Gerstner
Created with Suno AI
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▶ Lyrics (click to view)
Verse 1
Before the sound
Before the spark
Before the light
Nothing but promise
Imagine that
The universe was pregnant
No one watching
A birthing of plants and beasts
Some so strange only a doting parent could love
The stars took their places
And waited
Chorus
Before the sound
Before the spark
Before the light
Nothing but promise
Imagine that
Verse 2
Was something missing in paradise
Was it too quiet
Maybe it was time for a choice
Not a command
Would we accept the gift
Or try to take the throne
Chorus
Before the sound
Before the spark
Before the light
Nothing but promise
Imagine that
Verse 3
Maybe utopia was meant to stay
Maybe love required a choice
The stars still shine
The earth still spins
And promise still breathes
Outro
Imagine that