Quietism

Quietism contains at least two conceptual layers, a contemplation or abandonment of the will as a form of religious mysticism on the one hand and, on the other, a passive acceptance of established rules without attempts of resistance or changes, a theoretically apolitical stance.

The Duo channel video work Quietism is a montage of scenes taken from hundred of the few 70’000 TED’s talks available online. The audience of these videos is massive, reaching on average hundreds of thousands of people, lots of them millions. The themes are as vast as “Technology, Entertainment and Design -- plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more.” (Youtube TED’s profile).

Here the lecturer is absent and the material has been extremely censored. Only the audience remains in front of the titles of the talks that are being exposed. There are about 100 questions which the audience has to answer for itself instead of being explained by someone. A certain loss of authority is felt and empathy takes place instead. One can observe subtle gestures, swallowings, smiles, stifled laughters, attempts to attract attentions. These resurgences encourage contemplation, a silence rendering collectedness. The audience becomes subject. The actual viewer of the video balances between the position of the mute lecturer in front of its audience and an ambiguous mutual voyeurism is experienced.