Silence, please
multichannel installation
2023
Silence, please is a multi-channel installation confronting
the viewer with the impossibility of silence.
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In an attempt to represent this abstract concept, the work presents the viewer with multiple images and sounds of silence.
In the performative instructional video How To Silence: Lessons From a Professional Silencer, the universal gesture of silence is treated with an absurdism that questions its existence and efficacy, indirectly asking the viewer:
what is it that we’re asking for when we demand silence?
A film essay Silence, please… or How I Stopped Chasing Impossibilities presents the audience with a narrator becoming increasingly lost in the concept while trying to find tangible evidence of its existence.
In his pursuit, he resorts to those who have been victims of a political and weaponized silence: the political detainees of the Uruguayan dictatorship (1973 - 1985).
In the performative instructional video How To Silence: Lessons From a Professional Silencer, the universal gesture of silence is treated with an absurdism that questions its existence and efficacy, indirectly asking the viewer:
what is it that we’re asking for when we demand silence?
A film essay Silence, please… or How I Stopped Chasing Impossibilities presents the audience with a narrator becoming increasingly lost in the concept while trying to find tangible evidence of its existence.
In his pursuit, he resorts to those who have been victims of a political and weaponized silence: the political detainees of the Uruguayan dictatorship (1973 - 1985).
The installation points towards the malleability of the concept, as well as the real-life implications of a silence that is complacent with powers that be, and yet it can also become the last resort of those in pursuit of justice. The recurrent image of an A4 sheet of paper, whether is seen blank or depicting victims of silence, becomes the leitmotif of the installation. Just like silence, the A4 sheet’s malleability becomes apparent— from its use in daily life to a tool for social protest.
The overarching question the work poses is: if, impossible, why, then, the pursuit of silence?
By accepting the impossible nature of silence, a valuable lesson in acceptance can be found: the acceptance of a contemporary world that is unpredictable, noisy, and complex.
Please get in touch if you’re interested in watching the full film essay.
The overarching question the work poses is: if, impossible, why, then, the pursuit of silence?
By accepting the impossible nature of silence, a valuable lesson in acceptance can be found: the acceptance of a contemporary world that is unpredictable, noisy, and complex.
Please get in touch if you’re interested in watching the full film essay.