Silence, Sound, and Music in Anri Sala’s Cinematic Works

Abstract

This essay examines the sonic dimension of Anri Sala’s cinematic works by drawing on the theoretical framework outlined by
Jean-Luc Nancy in his texts on music and image, as well as on Jacques Derrida’s texts on Nancy. Based on the case study exploring the
cinematic practices of Anri Sala conducted within a research project on the border phenomena between cinematic visual arts and the
cinema, this essay argues that Sala’s works draw attention to the simultaneous expansion of both – the global sonorous space and the
global visual space. To characterize Sala’s use of the global sonorous space, specific works are discussed in more detail – “Intervista”
(1998), “Dammi i colori” (2003), “Làk–kat” (2004), “Long Sorrow” (2005), “After Three Minutes” (2007) and “Le Clash” (2010) – where the
sonorous materials extend from languages such as Albanian, Wolof, American English, British English, French and German, to different
kinds of music such as British punk-rock, jazz improvisations by an American saxophonist and an aria from Giacomo Puccini’s opera
“Tosca”. By analyzing Sala’s innovative practices of using silence, sound and music, this essay aims to create an improved theoretical
framework for understanding current global artistic practices where the sonorous and the visual influence and shape each other.