Home 1. Introduction 2. Markers 3. Archive 4. Audible Markers 5. Visible Markers 6. Notational Markers 7. Conclusion
3.1. Integrated Silences 3.2. Inherent Silences 3.3. Silent Discourse 3.4. Meta-Silences 3.5. Silencings
Figure: As a response to a silent German audience and as a way of un-silencing myself pre-performance, I began interacting with audience members before each show, selling useless Dada treats and souvenirs. This was also a way to un-silence the audience, giving them also more voice, and more agency in the performance. (Montreal: Salle Bourgie, October 31, 2018)
The accustomed silence on the part of the audience during a classical concert (the silence of decorum) is usually encouraged, but if it is extended too far, it can be an awful experience. During a Dada-themed concert I gave in Germany in 2015, the audience did not understand what I was doing onstage, and they made it tangible by doing nothing—no applause, no noises, no cheers, no sighs, no laughter. After each composition on the program, there was silence.
It was a physical, palpable, heavy silence. Yet (and this was strange to me) they did not leave the concert hall. So they had their own behavioral code: on the one hand, no applause (to indicate their disapproval), but on the other hand, no departures, no noise (to indicate their respect (either for me or—more likely—for the concertgoing ritual)). I interpreted the silence as a failure on my part to engage with the audience. The performance was of Dada artworks, themselves obscure and potentially confusing. In retrospect, I feel that their silence marked my own failure to communicate effectively.
From that moment on, I added a new element to the show, a prelude in which I would walk through the audience engaging with individual concert-goers and inviting them into the bizarre comedy of Dadaism. Traditionally the classical performer is silent and invisible before the show. Instead, I made my voice heard and also gave the audience a voice as I wandered amongst the seats, “selling” paper ice-creams and useless Dada souvenirs.