WHISPER

We shift to a whisper in particularly intimate moments. When we say tender or indecent things to our lovers. Or when we share secrets, retell something funny meant only for the two of us, like in childhood. Literature assures us that the sea, the forest, and the wind whisper to us too.

And we also quiet down in moments of danger. When every movement might cost a life, or simply when we are afraid. People don’t speak loudly about unpleasant things, about their worries or losses. When we voice disturbing information. And it feels like there is more and more of it. The uncomfortable truth irritates; we’re asked to hide it, not to show it. We become uncomfortable with our own pain, and we switch to whispering.

These reflections were inspired by Oleksandr Roitburd’s work “Whisper” from 1989. One figure covers their mouth, while the other seems to be shouting.…