Raum der Sprache

The photograph »Raum der Sprache« [Space of Language] documents an action art event in 1973 in Vienna. Peter Weibel holds a block of stone in which his tongue was set in concrete for hours so that he could not speak; a prisoner of the language prison. The artist describes the action as »sculpture with a living organism attached.« The basic principle of language is a spatial one: it makes air vibrate, and thus opens up the space in which it is heard. However, language is not only a phenomenon of immaterial vibrations, but these have real, material consequences. Language is like a garment, a wall, a material space that surrounds and can constrict people. Sentences are also judgments that can change, expropriate, separate, and even kill real lives. A mere spoken word, apparently only sound waves, can determine the freedom or imprisonment of a person in the courtroom. Where does this power of language and those who exercise it (such as judges, priests, or civil servants) come from? In order to soften the violence of language, the well-known separation of powers was introduced: Legislature, Judiciary, and Executive. With this action, the artist renders the violence of language visible.