VA505 Addressing Studio Creative Practice | Fall '21

 Wang Meng (1308-1385), Yuan Dynasty: Thatched Cottage in Autumn Mountains   Edouard Vuillard , The Dressmaker (1895)  Agnes Martin, Falling Blue (1963) Although, in Western art canon, we come across with expressions of silence in mostly abstract paintings (e.g. Mark Rothko, Agnes Martin, Etel Adnan), the roots of these ideas lie in mysticism and spirituality of the East. Traces of silence go back to Chinese paintings under the influence of Zen Buddhism and Taoism beginning around the 8th century. In Chinese culture, it was common and acceptable to retreat from society by escaping to mountains in chaotic time periods. Mostly in reclusion, monks and scholars painted tiny human figures, small sheds contrasting to majestic mountains, rivers and mist in a monochromatic way, affected by the ideas of Taoism which often underlines the power of silence (1). These paintings were not realistic depictions of landscapes, they were landscapes of the mind in a meditative or contemplative state. 

Iconography of silence starts with Harpocrates -Ancient Greek God of silence- that is represented with his finger close to his mouth. This endured to be the gesture of silence. In Judeo-Christian creation myth, the cosmos starts with the word of God and silence predates everything (1).  Being an important part of spirituality, silence is a must to connect with God and utilized as a self-discipline method. Silent retreat is a common practice in Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism and Sufism for deepening insight. Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad are often depicted as having their revelations while seeking silence in the religious narratives. Monasteries have the tradition of ars meditandi (contemplation) in silence since antiquity which was transferred into a secular, personal discipline in the 16th century. In ancient ethics, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius praise meditative silence for focus. In Christianity, oratio interior (inner prayer) is about finding inner silence to be able to hear