wwwhispers

2023

wwwhispers is a Fine Art Giclée print on silk, measuring 200 cm x 50 cm by Heremans & Dainotti.

During a two-month research residency in Wuhan (CN), Belgian/Italian artists Roel Heremans & Emanuele Dainotti immersed themselves in the realms of contemporary Chinese sci-fi, literature, history, and politics. Within this exploration, they reencountered a childhood game known as The Telephone Game or Chinese Whispers, where a line of children conveys a message, resulting in a playfully non-competitive and intimate miscommunication.

Playing this particular game creates an enclosed sonic space among the participants, intertwining notions of privacy, intimacy, resistance, and trust. In contemporary Chinese society, younger generations engage in the act of whispering, navigating between authentic identities and the creation of personas and avatars.

Whispering becomes both an act of resistance and a means of creating "other" and virtual spaces. This transformation into a symbolic form of communication exists at the intersection of language and silence. The artwork captures a delicate whispering that embodies the possibility and virtuality of a space, inviting viewers to participate in the game and reflect on the potential for creating a safe space between the virtual and the real.