TACITO [TACIT]. An Artistic Practice as Research into Silence and Immobility

Abstract

This paper explores the development and findings of a Practice as Research (PaR) project in electroacoustic music and contemporary dance, focused on identifying and understanding
emerging "Choreomusical Networks” (CMN; in Spanish, RR.CC.) within contexts that explore silence and immobility. Although this was a practical research, its development required addressing three key areas of study. Firstly, CMN (Candela 2022), which arises from the idea
of choreomusical relations and the ideas of actants, agencies, and performances from the
Actor-Network Theory. This methodology focused on perceptual thresholds in sounds that
approach silence to create “silent music,” as well as examining the thresholds of movements
near immobility to develop a “still dance.” The results generated knowledge regarding the
characteristics of shared attention, mainly when it occurs through the “choreomusical threshold.” They also provided knowledge regarding the mobile characteristics of sound and
the sound characteristics of movement at perceptual thresholds, highlighting the particular “organic” and “holistic” agencies that these adopt during their perception. Finally, conclusions were drawn regarding the concept of “perceptual magnetization” presented by the different movements of “still dance” and the unique CMN that emerged thanks to the influence of “the sculptural” in a choreomusical performance.