The Silence (…) is overrated

The Silence (…) is Overrated, 2015, microphone, 1925 Westinghouse fan motor, broomstick, wood and sound system

An inverted microphone is used not to amplify a voice, but to make a persistent knocking on a wall. The title references a work by Joseph Beuys, "Das Schweigen von Marcel Duchamp wird Uberbewertet (The silence of Marcel Duchamp is overrated)," which sought to critique the glorification of Duchamp's attitude of turning his back to making art in the 1920s.

Here the microphone is used as an inverse symbol of power and social agency. The assemblage of a microphone and a broomstick is being propelled by the modified motor of a 1920's oscillating fan. The piece is designed to facilitate its own demise over an extended period of time. The motor could give up, the microphone could stop working, or if nothing else breaks the wall could cave in, leaving no surface for the microphone to strike, therefore losing its function.