Devil's Noise
2011
Devil's Noise was conceived and produced during a residency at the prestigious German new media academy ZKM. This work investigates the South African student protests of 1976, in which collective silence was used as a means of protest by student groups opposing the imposition of the Afrikaans language within the school system. The imposition would have effectively barring much of the population from participation. The title references a protest sign carried by a young boy stating "We Will Not Speak Your Devil Tongue". The work complicates the ways we understand language to be involved in oppression and the systemic regulation of bodies.