Held, Pressed, and Unheard: Mapping the Body in Silence
The concept behind the series Silence in Chains, created by Olalekan Adetunji, could be summarized briefly as follows: silence does not only denote the absence, but it is also something
The concept behind the series Silence in Chains, created by Olalekan Adetunji, could be summarized briefly as follows: silence does not only denote the absence, but it is also something imposed on the body itself. The names themselves speak about the emotional development: the title of the pieces guide the viewer through the process of communicating by means of gestures of the body in silence.
In the first piece of the series, the sense of longing and restraint is evident even without knowing the title. The idea of reaching is created; however, the absence of realization gives the picture its interest. The posture of the figure looks constrained in a certain way: it is the way of depicting longing along with resistance. One can say that it happens because of the attempt made that did not succeed.
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The next piece in the series has a more complicated mood. Here, silence looks like an experience rather than a condition that could be resisted. There is something fascinating about the notion of holding it. As far as the use of gestures is concerned, they should be quite restrained in order to make the viewer understand the meaning behind silence. The tension here could be stronger and more contained.
The third in the series becomes the core piece in terms of emotions and feelings depicted, and the most powerful. In the previous two, silence was resisted or accepted with reluctance; here, it starts to affect the figure's posture directly. A subtle suggestion of pressure and compression would be the best way to depict the effect. If the model's body is somehow forced to contract or fold inwards, silence becomes palpable and real. Visual density, created with the help of framing or other elements of composition, would enhance the effect.
Finally, the fourth piece in the series will involve all the features mentioned above as well as the element of resistance against silence. Again, there would be no need to explain the meaning as the right choice of the gestures could be used here. Strained posture, tension, hints at a broken silence – all of these should convey the message. Something intriguing would be to make the picture ambivalent.
To sum up, one may note that the series called Silence in Chains depicts a transition from longing for silence to resisting it. The artist tries to convey his feelings through the body language of the model, replacing speech with gestures. Of course, ideally, this should create emotional impact in the viewer without the need to give too much explanation. Nevertheless, in this case, some distinctions between the pictures should be drawn.
It will be possible to achieve by using quite different body language. Finally, the most interesting solution would be to provide viewers with an immersive experience of a kind; to make them unable to move or speak because of the strange feeling of oppression.
