A gap of silence, by Erik Pevernagie, (100 x 100 cm), Oil on canvas

Silence is a fascinating cultural incident. It is a "contingent" phenomenon with positive or negative qualities and must be "contextualized."

We can experience silence as an interval. It can be breathing space and spawn release and wellness in a time of appalling inflation of words since it has the power to create 'spiritedness' and make room for imagination. It may lead to a reviving retreat into a world of new perspectives.

As our environment is increasingly confronting meaningless noise, silence may be a redeeming rescue. Samuel Beckett makes his point of view clear: "Every word is like an unnecessary stain on silence and nothingness."

Silence can be a welcoming and hospitable partner when we let loose, and the flow of time sends a comforting wave of sound vibrations gently opening the skyline.

But silence may be intolerably screaming if it means the absence of communication, friendship deficiency, and emotional deficit. It means then a heavy burden to bear, an unbearable weight.

After facing relentless pandemic showdowns, many long for the glow of a new dawn and crave bright and loud life stories with liberating slapsticks to shatter silenced desolation and pent-up rage, restoring self-value and broken identity.

If we think that silence does not exist and is only the absence of sound, some claim that it is itself a kind of sound. That is the reason why John Cage believes that "there is no such thing as space or an empty time. There is always something to see, something to hear" and "moreover, silence may only be frightening to people who are compulsively verbalizing" if we follow William S. Burroughs's reasoning."

Phenomenon: silence.

Factual starting point of the picture: pondering girl