Small Acts of Silence

Silence births reflection, contemplation and creativity, ultimately holding importance as a means to an end, a call to contribution and community. Our goal is to share the value of silence and suggest to the world that seeking personal silence is meaningful, even necessary in the chaotic, and noisy environment of the 21st century. Our project culminated in an art exhibition exploring this theme through silent black and white videos projected on a downtown alley wall. We engaged the public by inviting them to experience intentional silence. Individual videos document and explore our personal experiences and extensive research on silence and quiet in a visually provocative way. Our videos encapsulate silence in both its beautiful and plain instances, captured by each team member. This is a personal journey in the form of a group experience. This art exhibit took place on March 4th, during First Friday in downtown Missoula. Roughly 200 people watched our video. Some were passive, merely moving on down the street after a minute or so. Others stayed to chat with us about the project and their personal journeys in silence. We will present our videos for a second time before the UMCUR presentation, on the same alley wall. This time we will be more deliberate about our audience and collecting feedback. Our silent videos will make up the UMCUR exhibition. We will recreate our First Friday exhibition on a screen or wall during the 4:00-5:00 hour on April 15th. The significance of this project lies in the value it brings to the community. This project allows the public an opportunity to find personal silence and embody the benefits of individual reflection, without the added pressure of producing something in return. Our presentation will offer the knowledge needed to replicate the exhibition or produce small acts of silence in one’s community