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
3.2 Inherent Silence: Works Made of Silence
Each of the artworks in this second part provides instruction(s) for silence. Those of the compositions which do contain notes or sounds only do so with reference to the silences which are the topic of the artwork. Other commonalities are that (almost) all of them are composed, meaning that there is a notated score and often detailed instructions for the performer. They usually imply performance in a specific situation by practiced musicians or actors. These are works of “inherent silence” which belong to the broader category of “absence art.”
The term absence art is drawn from the writings of Belarusian philosopher Anna Farrenikova. Although she readily acknowledges that even John Cage’s 4’33” is not about absence per se, she classifies it as a seminal work of absence art nonetheless. I mention her terminology because she highlights a clear interdisciplinary connection between visual examples such as Robert Rauschenberg’s White Paintings and musical examples such as Abramović’s The Artist is Present or Cage’s 4’33”.
Controversy is the bread and butter of absence art and there is also controversy in what should count as absence art. John Cage’s piece is famously cited as a piece of absence art, but a closer read of his explanation suggests that it’s more about what fills the gap, than about what’s gone. (Farrenikova, 2019, p. 257)
These inherently silent pieces are full of implied constraints and often far less silent than they initially seem. The composers frequently push the audience towards specific listening approaches. Each of these works has a very specific stance on silence, which (as with conceptual artworks in other disciplines) engages with the societal and the political.