The Sound of Silence, one of Alfredo Jaar’s most renowned monumental and involving installations, will be the centerpiece of his first solo exhibition in Poland, at the Centre of Contemporary Art in Torun, curated by Dobrila Denegri.
Alfredo Jaar’s politically engaged work, which focuses on events such as war, political corruption, and power imbalances between developed and developing countries, has received widespread international acclaim.
He faces challenges in his art that the general public does not want to see. He investigates the public’s desensitization to images, as well as the limitations of art in representing events such as genocides, epidemics, and famines, through installations, photographs, films, and community-based projects.
About his work Alfredo Jaar states: “My imagination starts working based on research, based on a real life event, most of the time a tragedy that I’m just starting to analyze, to reflect on…this real life event to which I’m trying to respond.”
The story of Kevin Carter, a South African photographer and member of the illustrious “Bang-Bang Club,” who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1994 for one of the most stunning photographs ever taken about famine in Africa and committed suicide soon after receiving the honor, served as the triggering “real-life event” for the film The Sound of Silence.
Alfredo Jaar used this narrative as the basis for what he refers to as a “theatre built for a single image.” What it displays is an eight-minute film whose plot challenges the authority and politics of the image.
However, it also provides a profoundly perceptive experience, inspiring the viewer to think more deeply about issues such as how people react to the suffering of others, what it means to be an eyewitness, and who owns the rights to witness images used in the media.
The Sound of Silence is a potent testimony in Jaar’s ongoing investigation of political injustices and the limitations of their representation through imagery. It is simultaneously a moving elegy and an instigator.
Ravi Rajan designed the software for the installation, which measures 170 x 180 x 360 inches (431.8 x 457.2 x 914.4 cm). Adapted from the press release for Galerie Lelong: “An enclosed aluminum structure that compels the viewer to enter, The Sound of Silence physically engages to boldly deliver its message. A light at the door signals when people are permitted to enter the space, alternating between red and green. Once inside the structure, an 8-minute film presents the viewer with a silent narrative that slowly unfolds a somber and devastating real-life story. With The Sound of Silence, Alfredo Jaar uses remarkable force, grace, and economy to highlight a complex set of ethical and personal questions about the act of looking and the responsibilities that follow.”
