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As encompassing as the silence can be out on the sea ice or in the deep field, social silence here at McMurdo is non-existent. 1000 people live on station. 2 to 4 people share a room. I have three lovely roommates, who all work different shifts. The station runs 24 hours and day and each science support employee works 60 hours a week. In my room, there is not one hour of the day in which we can talk above a whisper: It is a 24-hour sleep space.
And gossip howls like the wind. Work and personal life is indistinguishable. All space is public, someone is always watching and thus everyone can know. Quiet is rare.
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I also created an interactive space, titled:
opaque quiet.
In the mechanic equipment shop of the Science Support Center, our gallery, I constructed an 8’ L x 8’ W x 10’ H room with visqueen plastic. The space became a sanctuary of silence amidst the social sea of the MAAG opening. The entry had a rounded arch and was low so those who entered had to bow their heads. A small visqueen sign hung just above the entry. It read: “This is a silent space. If desired you are invited to communicate non-verbally”. A sign to the right read: “Please Remove your shoes”.
Inside two hanging globe lights hovered over two army cots. Each sat one inch from the floor. On a wood block at the far end of the room rested a stack of manila cards and ballpoint pens.
The silent sanctuary was a dedicated space observable to all but from within you were required not to react. Intimate words were shared without rumors whispering them into the night.
Upon exiting the sanctuary, a sign to the left sat above a wooden block and said: Please place your written conversations here.
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To think, next year I want to come back.
To the silence, to the closter phobia, to the vastness,
To the ice.
