Silence as Medium
AfricArXiv November 15, 2025 Vale, Dorian
Silence is not merely the absence of sound but a generative presence that structures perception, meaning, and artistic encounter. Within Post-Interpretive Criticism, silence is the original ground from which expression emerges and the final condition to which all expression returns. The ethical force of silence lies in its use: it can dignify the unsayable or be weaponized to suppress. The erosion of silence in digital culture has produced a contemporary 'poverty of depth' characterized by immediacy without intimacy. In museums, silence is advocated as a curatorial principle allowing artworks to be encountered with attention rather than overwhelmed by spectacle. The artist must discern which silence they invoke; the critic must understand which silence they break.