Taking inspiration from John Cage’s 4’33’, and as a response to the phenomena of speechlessness when encumbered by grief, 3 minutes and 30 seconds is a performance of a ‘silent lecture’ within the University of Derby on December 12, 2019, the day of the UK government General Election; an event with lifelong consequences and global political ramifications.

The duration represents a minute of silence for each year since the June 2016 European referendum on Brexit, where the UK commenced what has become an unresolved and traumatic separation from the European Union. The election was set to attempt to address this painful deadlock in a country beset with social divisions and discriminations echoing the recent Western lurch towards fascism. This silence references the act of contemplation in a gesture of national mourning, the compromise in vocalising educational integrity in this context, as well as an acknowledgement to the many students in attendance whose voices were not heard on account of their ineligibility to vote in this pivotal referendum.

 The United Kingdom left the European Union on January 31, 2020.