Chavajay, a member of the Tz'utujil community (one of over 20 Maya communities in Guatemala), exposes the ideological dimensions of modernity with its links to colonial domination across Central America. The title ironically references artist John Cage, who in 1952 sat in front of a piano for 4 minutes and 33 seconds without playing. Echoing the Maya tale of the first man, fashioned from mud, the terracotta microphones convey the sense of impotency in Maya communities where silence has been imposed by government authorities. Chavajay presents a chorus dispossessed of voice, while also offering an opportunity to listen to the silence of the earth, beyond the noise of modernity.

On 24 October Benvenuto Chavajay Ixtetelá takes part in a conversation in the Cosmopolis discursive space.