Curating silence: using archiving as a means of investigating silence
Date
2014-06-19
Authors
Preston, Carol
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Abstract
This research report outlines the rationale, the aims and objectives, planning, theoretical context
and findings of an installation examining the presentation of silence. The practice of curation was
used in order to establish, through the juxtapositioning of found and made objects drawn from
personal archive, signs and representations of silence so that a language that is common could be
created or found. The initial overarching question was whether it was possible to present silence by
creating a visual language, using curation that became understandable to an audience without
having to refer to explanation beyond what was presented to them. Meaning is by nature layered, in
that it is socially constructed but adjusted by personal identity, experience, gender, social
circumstances and history, and can change over time. Questions that were grappled with included
whether interpretation is culturally driven, and what pains the curator had in choosing work to put
on display which would drive meaning and the telling of the story as it were. By extension then
questions emerged as to whose voice is being fore grounded in the act of curating. This could be the
curator’s alone but this then begs the question as to where the voice of the original artist sits. If it
was the curator’s voice alone that emerged then questions needed to be asked if there is anything
wrong with that. The presentation, simply by the nature of the objects displayed, had a sense of
layered meaning, but it was important that the layers were not so deeply embedded as to make
singular meaning to individual viewers not apparent.
This research project is the culmination of a body of work undertaken over two years. It began as
one thing, moved quickly into something else, turned in on itself and again became something
somewhat different, finally spiralling unexpectedly back to its original form. The initial point of
departure for this research was the state of silence that I found I had been living in for most of my
life. This included silence, and the subsequent guilt, over Apartheid, silence and helplessness in the
face of violence and corruption in South Africa, and the silence that I was subjected to as a girl
growing up in a patriarchal society, which was later impacted by coming out as a lesbian.
The silence that I initially proposed to present in this research was a quiet spiritual silence that I
hoped would reveal itself as the work progressed, not the silence of collusion or violence that so
often presents itself in readings of this topic. The research began as an extension of a small shadow
puppet play that examined the plight of the rhino, and his silenced voice, which was itself an
extension of the initial point of departure as outlined above. The journey emerged from a thought,
which materialized into a puppet play, morphed and evolved into an art installation and finally, on
reflection, became something else altogether.
Whilst visiting the Netherlands I came across two exhibitions in Utrecht both dealing with silence.
None of the work in either of the exhibitions spoke of silence to me. This led me to question
whether I lacked the language that was needed in order to receive the messaging that the various
artists were trying to convey, or whether they lacked the ability to convey their messages. Other
questions began to emerge, such as: How is silence constructed? Is it possible to create a language
that can be shared by audiences that can engage them with notions of silence? How would a South
African audience experience silence, since so much around us is socially constructed? Was it because
I was a foreigner, and therefore viewed silence as a South African would, that I was not able to
engage with the work in the Netherlands, or was it because the artists were simply unable to share a
language with me?