Aukward Silence
In silencing nature,
We are silencing ourselves.
There are now few, where there were once many.
Homogeneity is deaf to all
But itself; it is not
An active listener.
The enduring plundering of the commons
Is dismantling the rich web
To a single vapid thread of
Silence, inequality and
Injustice.
No forests. No flight.
No song. No light.
No sound.
No movement.
No clicks. No whistles. No roars.
No pulsed callings.
The final deafened dying breath,
The last wing beats, the last echo, the last voice;
No choice,
No richness of life.
Their pain,
Their absence,
Is our felt
Shame.
And,
In our bewilderment
Now,
We must listen to the silent
Call of the last wilds
Demanding
A final great awakening.
So, gather at sunrise,
Observe a renewed dawn
Chorus, hopeful
Above the shattering
Sonic blast.
This is
Our desire
Our purpose
Our quest
To listen,
To act,
To learn better
Amidst the discord of our own making.
This is our responsibility
For all life,
For the future.
This is our
Voicing silence.
The land, the skies, the oceans
Are still breathing, still speaking,
It is time, it is time,
It is time to lift the veil and
To listen
Again.
Is this our responsibility? Is it too late to make a difference?
In mourning is it too late to ask for forgiveness?
S.W. Farlow
Voicing Silence is an artistic response aiming to understand how the public feels about the 6th global mass extinction we are experiencing today. It questions how we ought to represent it, how to make sense of it and what new languages are need to express and address it.
Part of a wider project, Thinking Through Extinction, and working in partnership with Manchester Museum and University of Leeds, artist Laurence Payot and a team of artists are inviting you to collaborate and contribute to a video piece that will be presented online and at Manchester Museum late 2020/early 2021