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James Leonard - Written documentation and two photographs, taken by Steven Henry, of the action, Mute.
James Leonard - A close-up of a few notes on lined paper, explaining experience of being involved in the action, Mute.
James Leonard - Thoughts written on lined paper about the experience of participating in Mute, alongside a black-and-white photo of the action, taken by Steven Henry.
James Leonard - Written documentation and two photographs, taken by Steven Henry, of the action, Mute.
James Leonard - A close-up of a few notes on lined paper, explaining experience of being involved in the action, Mute.
James Leonard - Thoughts written on lined paper about the experience of participating in Mute, alongside a black-and-white photo of the action, taken by Steven Henry.

Mute

Ephemera & artifacts available

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1994 
Action 
Duration 5 hours

This piece was a collaborative action by James Leonard, Gabrielle Le Cocq, and Steven Henry as they moved through the city of London.

A performative structure was designed with the intent of demoting the role of language within cognition. This grew from a shared impulse to challenge the dominant role of semiotics and linguistic theory in artistic discourse at the time.

Leonard remained non-verbal for the project duration. Le Cocq joined Leonard as his traveling companion, working as his advocate and translator. The two were followed by Henry, who now works under the stage-name Infinite Livez, at 40 to 80 paces, where he photo documented the process.

A crude, spontaneous set of gestures quickly emerged between Leonard and Le Cocq. Over the course of the day, he became more and more dependent on Le Cocq during interactions with bystanders. This transformation and other relevant observations were then recorded in the form of written notes made within hours of the artwork’s conclusion.