SILENCE

Silence occurs when we pass a stranger on a sidewalk.

Silence occurs when we begin to court a lover.

Silence occurs when we grieve the loss of someone.

Silence occurs when are verbally disciplined.

We abhor silence like nature abhors a vacuum – rushing to fill it before it feeds our imaginations and provokes anxious conjurations.

Silence begins without permission. In this project, I begin by openly placing a pinhole camera on the table of a gathering and I slowly open the gaffer tape shutter. Having to hold still for a minute to expose the film – I am silent. Within seconds everyone is aware that I am imposing silence onto them and that moment is what I capture. Some people at the table avoid the silence and push it away by continuing with the celebration while others release their hands from the table and join in on the silence.

My choice to physically encapsulate each moment of silence in a frame speaks to its vacuum. Through the construction of glider system and toggles around the moment of silence, I allow the viewer to engage with it and add their own voice and social construct either imposing a negative or a positive value onto it. This engagement takes the viewer into an ongoing investigation between voice and silence.

In our day to day lives we are constantly leveraging the tensions between voice and silence due to both cultural and social constructs. SILENCE is my project which speaks to what is voiced and what is silenced in our memory, identity and well-being.

 Silence No. 1

Special thanks to Danny Hussey from Central Art Garage for building the frame I dreamed and the Ontario Arts Council for their support.