My Silence
BOKEH#009
ISBN 978-952-69504-4-0
2021
Author Mika Taanila
Graphic design Antti Nylén and Mika Taanila
Printed and bound by Antti Nylén
Perfect binding, 104 pages
Inside pages Multicopy 160 g/m2, Folia tonpapier 130 g/m2
Cover Performa Brilliance 200 g/m2
140 x 206 x 11 mm
Edition of 100 copies
My Silence is a work by Mika Taanila, in a book form, based on the script of Louis Malle's 1981 film My Dinner with André, as published in a paperback format. My Silence is precedented by two other pieces by Taanila, My Silence, a single-channel video installation (2013), and a 'grid' composed of 97 A4 sheets tied on gallery wall, titled My Silence (on paper) (2015).
The video and sound piece is a experimental, "reductionist" work, made by cutting out all bits of the film My Dinner with André that have spoken word on the soundtrack, and the film has quite a lot of that: in the history of cinema, Malle's feature film is known most of all for its multi-layered dialogue/monologue, written by Wallace Shawn and André Gregory. The duration of the film is 106 minutes, whereas Taanila's piece only lasts 12 minutes and 45 seconds.
What actually happens when you take out the most important element from a specific film?
The book, likewise titled My Silence and published by Bokeh, is a variant of the paper installation: the original screenplay is reproduced page by page, but all dialogue is systematically erased. Remaining are only some sentences describing action and character names before lines. At the installation these photocopied sheets were hanged on the wall, now they constitute a regular book. Page count is the same as in the original paperback (My Dinner with André: A Screenplay by Wallace Shawn and André Gregory. An Evergreen Book. Grove Weidenfeld: New York 1981).
The book contains a link to watch the video online.
The edition of the glue bound, handmade book is 100 copies.
You can purchase the book online at the Bokeh Shop.
