The pleasure of silence mentioned by Susan Sontag in her essay “Aesthetics of silence” has changed the concept of Unfinished. Unfinished becomes the emblem of something that does not exist. In the context of what exists – it sets off the space for interpretation.
Unfinished frees our imagination. It gives the situation more meaning than if it was closed in a definite form. Even what is finished (a perfect crystal is an example) introduces a certain “noise” into the space in which it is found through its formalized structure. Space distorts the image of the crystal, shifting our attention to what is not a crystal. So it shows us how incomplete this picture is altogether.
Susan Sontag believes that silence is an important element of the protest and appears above all in anti-artistic, minimalist works, in arte povera or conceptual art. The silence of the creator is the resignation from fulfilling the artistic mission. This is what Unfinished is. Most creators aim to undo silence (Finished), probably fearing it. But the recipient could fill it with his voice. Many artists find innovative expressive paths to emphasize silence in their work. Others smuggle a lack in what is a minority, stealthy and unfinished. This is the so-called FORCE of Weakness in the unfinished work. Unfinished as anti-art.
(Agata)